LARKANA: Pakistan Peoples Party’s Sindh President Nisar Ahmed Khuhro has reacted strongly to the policy statement made recently by the federal finance minister in Senate’s standing committee on finance regarding Centre’s intention to revisit the National Finance Commission (NFC) Award with a view to curtail provinces’ share.

“It is a blatant violation of the Article 160(3A) of the Constitution to talk about reviewing the NFC Award on the pretext of rationalising the shares going to provinces,” he said in a statement issued here on Sunday.

Khuhro termed the move “a plan to roll back the 18th Constitutional Amendment”, and reminded the finance ministry that under the Article 160(3A) of the Constitution, shares of provinces in the NFC Award could only be increased, and not decreased.

He advised the federal government to desist from reviewing the Award this way. It should better announce a new NFC Award, i.e. for the year 2025, he added.

Terms move a plan to roll back 18th Constitutional Amendment

“The federal government should constitute the National Finance Commission without wasting more time,” he said, and also called for increasing provinces’ share from the existing 57.5pc and decreasing federation’s share from 45.5pc in the new Award.

Referring to the Article 160(1) of the Constitution, the Sindh PPP chief said a new NFC Award becomes due after every five years, but no award had been announced since 2010.

The old NFC Award could not be retained anymore, and after the 18th Amendment, not even for one year, he said.

Khuhro observed that the federal government, wrapped in fear, was applying dilly delaying tactics to continue avoiding constitution of the commission.

He warned the federal government that PPP would not allow tampering with the Constitution.

“The Centre sometimes talks about IMF pressure and sometimes the funds supposed to be given to [formerly] FATA and Gilgit to apply cuts in provinces’ share. It will be unethical and unwise to shift the burden of FBR’s failure to achieve tax recovery targets,” he said.

For mere inefficiency of FBR, why should provinces suffer in terms of decrease of their shares in the NFC Award, he argued.

The PPP leader offered the Centre an efficient tax collection in Sindh if entrusted to the provincial government, instead of FBR.

He insisted that strong provinces symbolised strong Centre, and criticised the mindset of strengthening Centre, saying that it’s undemocratic and dictatorial thinking. It would weaken provinces, he said.

Nisar Khuhro recalled that in 2010, the provinces’ share was increased from 49pc to 57.5pc but unfortunately Sindh was denied even this agreed upon share.

In the 7th NFC Award, distribution was made on the basis of multiple indicators i.e. 82pc population, 10.3pc poverty and backwardness, 5pc revenue recoveries and revenue generation, while 2.7pc was inverse density population.

Published in Dawn, December 16th, 2024