Elusive consensus

The government has decided to continue with the resource distribution formula of the fifth National Finance Commission (NFC) Award for the next year as well because the sixth NFC has failed to reach a consensus on a new award after two years of efforts.

The main hurdle, it seems, has been the disagreement among the provinces on Sindh's insistence on weightage for revenue collection along with population, under development and inter-provincial rural migration to urban areas.

While all the four provinces seem to have agreed on giving proper weightage to the last three factors, the first one has become a bone of contention between Sindh on the one hand and Punjab and the NWFP on the other.

Sindh has refused to agree to any distribution formula which does not take into consideration the province's revenue collecting performance.

On the face of it, the provinces would have gained significantly from the offer of the centre to share the divisible pool on the basis of 52.6:47.4 in the sixth NFC award against the fifth award formula of 62.5:37.5.

More so, because this time the pie is significantly larger because of a substantial increase in revenue collection this year. But disagreements among the provinces on the basis for sharing the expanded proportion (47.4 per cent) from the total divisible pool will in effect, make the federation richer by over Rs30 billion as the provinces will now get only 37.5 per cent of the total pool.

Also, an opportunity to make the distribution formula, so far based only on population, more equitable by a consensus on giving weightages for underdevelopment has been lost, it seems, because of Sindh's insistence on weightage for revenue collection.

Sindh justifies its demand for an additional two per cent share in the pool on the plea that it collects 69.2 per cent of the taxes, and, therefore, deserves an incentive.

This would mean an addition of seven billion rupees to Sindh's share and Rs2.5 billion to Punjab's, with the NWFP and Balochistan getting next to nothing. So, seemingly for a mere seven billion rupees Sindh has thrown a spanner in the NFC works.

It is not very clear whether it is principles or politics which have dictated Sindh's position in the matter. But then a national consensus is not built by sticking to principles or by politicizing a non-political issue.

It is by political give-and-take that a federation achieves a consensus on issues of contention. One can give a number of arguments against the claim being made by Sindh, but even if it is a genuine one, the best way to achieve the objective is through political persuasion which normally is a long-drawn exercise, rather than through inflexibility.

The new budget is just round the corner. Let us resume the search for a new, more equitable and a consensual formula for resource distribution as soon as the next budget is out of the way.

Also, let us try to make the new budget as equitable as possible for various regions and classes of people. We are not suggesting a utopian budget, but let us not allow the richer regions and the richer classes to become ever more so at the cost of the backward regions and poorer people.

Let the fruits of development and progress be shared as widely and equitably as possible.]]

Sharon's hurry

The sacking of two ministers by Mr Ariel Sharon shows how desperate the Israeli prime minister is to have his way on the Gaza plan. On Friday, he sacked two National Union Party ministers. Without this action, he would lack a cabinet majority for implementing his revised Gaza plan.

The differences between the original and the revised versions are peripheral. They concern such matters as whether Israel will destroy or hand over to the Palestinian Authority "sensitive buildings" and synagogues.

But the date for the completion of the withdrawal remains unchanged - the end of 2005. The really controversial issues, too, remain unchanged: Israel will continue to build the separation fence, and it will retain "some" West Bank land. This has sabotaged the roadmap prepared by the Quartet - the US, EU, UN and Russia.

Now there is talk of an Egyptian ceasefire plan. Reportedly it has been accepted by Israel and the Palestinian Authority. All it does is to provide for a ceasefire and the beginning of negotiations between Mr Sharon and Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmad Qorei.

Given Mr Sharon's track record, it is unlikely that the talks will begin, and that if they do they will achieve a breakthrough. The odds are overwhelmingly in favour of Israel. Enjoying unstinted American backing, Israel is unlikely to make any "concessions" - an Israeli euphemism for withdrawing from occupied territories.

If at all talks are to begin and succeed, the US, as Israel's patron-saint, should put its foot down on two crucial issues: Tel Aviv must put a halt to the construction of the fence, and it must pledge to withdraw fully from the West Bank, as visualized in the roadmap.

Retaining "some" West Bank land would mean there would be no possibility of a sovereign Palestinian state coming into being in 2005, as visualized by the roadmap.

Uncaring and unconcerned

No one in this uncaring land appears to have a clear idea about heritage or the need to preserve it. Where efforts have been successful in conserving old buildings, it has largely been due to the initiative taken by public-spirited individuals.

There are glaring lapses: the condition of the ruins of Moenjodaro, steadily being corroded, is one of these. This could well turn out to be an instance of criminal negligence - on the same level as the Taliban's wilful destruction of the Bamiyan Buddhas.

But even living cities and buildings on a far smaller scale are treated with total indifference. The Sadiqgarh Palace of Bahawalpur and its collection of antiques have been divided among the family instead of the state retaining control of the palace and converting it into a tourist attraction.

The old cars and valuable items that went with the palace will in time disappear. Old buildings that had become cherished landmarks are being put to auction - privatized. Falettis in Lahore is the latest example. The buyers have promised to build a five-star hotel on the site.

But the present sprawling hotel building will probably disappear. There should have been a condition that the structure would be preserved and a new building built around it and in the same style.

It was run by the Pakistan Tourism Development Corporation and was also the terminal for the Lahore-Delhi bus service, welcoming visitors from across the border to a charming bit of pre-partition Lahore.

Dean's in Peshawar is gone; so's Cecil in Murree. In Karachi, many of the downtown buildings that lend the city so much of its character are decaying, and the Jinnah Hostel continues to house the Rangers.

Heritage buildings are pulled down to make way for shopping centres and apartment complexes. We can build new monuments and 'baabs' and minars, but can't be bothered about the old buildings that we have.

Caring for them and looking after them will reflect a more abiding love on our part for the land in which we live than the progress we have embraced in the name of commercialization.