HYDERABAD: Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Sindh President Nisar Ahmed Khuhro has said that there has been no demand from any quarters for a decrease in the provinces’ share in the National Finance Commission (NFC).

Under the existing formula, provinces’ share can be increased, but not decreased, he reiterated citing the relevant provisions of the Constitution.

NFC ensures more provincial shares under constitutional cover for resource distribution defined in 2009. “Under this formula, provincial share could not be decreased, he explained.

Mr Khuhro was speaking to journalists at the party’s divisional headquarters in Civil Lines here on Saturday evening. Maula Bux Chandio, Ajiz Dhamra, Tariq Shah Jamote, Wasim Rajput (Deputy Mayor), Saghir Qureshi, Noorun Nisa Abro, Sanam Talpur and other senior party leaders were present.

Acknowledges relief to people under fuel subsidy is inadequate

Answering a question whether provinces’ share was being cut in the next NFC Award, Mr Khuhro said that the commission is a constitutional requirement under the new resource distribution formula. He said that the fresh NFC has been constituted but it has not held its deliberations on the next NFC Award.

For the next NFC Award, the share of provinces could only be increased, not decreased, under present NFC. There has been no such demand of such a cut and, therefore, the formula of existing NFC is intact,” he remarked.

He explained that Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) and Gilgit Baltistan were not part of Pakistan [when the formula was agreed upon] with their present structure and any such demand for share is to come from there. He said that if anyone wanted to discuss the share of the defence budget must know that it was given an annual raise by parliament considering their demand.

He said that the past [PTI] government had tried to change the nomenclature of the Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) to ‘Ehsas’, but allocations remained the same under the same head.

Constitutional amendments

He said that commenting on the proposed 28th constitutional amendment would be premature because nothing has been discussed so far in parliament about it. He said that the 26th and 27th constitutional amendments were discussed in parliament and passed accordingly.

“Amending the Constitution every now and then is no joke,” he said, adding that no minister had discussed the proposed 28th amendment so far.

He said that the recent statement by Inter-services Public Relations (ISPR) that “the army has nothing to do with politics” was indeed a positive sign, and recalled that the institution had clearly stated in the past that it should not be dragged into politics. Politicians were told that they should look into their political affairs themselves, he said. He asserted that the Constitution and parliament remained supreme to ensure progress of the country.

Mr Khuhro said termed the present relief from provincial governments as fuel subsidy ‘inadequate’. He, however, stated that people should realise that fuel prices in the international market had shot up due to global conditions in the wake of the US-Israel war against Iran.

He acknowledged that the hike in fuel prices in the country had affected the people who depended on public and private transport means, as well as those whose livelihoods were associated with the agriculture sector.

Nisar Khuhro also addresses a gathering of party workers at a banquet in Latifabad and to welcomed Rehan Hanif, a former PML-N activist, into the PPP fold on Saturday evening.

Published in Dawn, May 10th, 2026