LAHORE, Aug 24: The Punjab government has opposed the convening of the first meeting of the parliamentary commission on creation of new provinces, complaining that it has never been consulted on the formation of the panel.

The meeting is scheduled to be held on August 28. Formed by the speaker of National Assembly on a presidential reference in response to resolutions passed by the parliament and Punjab Assembly, the commission has 14 members — six each from the upper and lower houses of parliament and two from the provincial assembly.

Members of the Senate and National Assembly have already been nominated to the body but the Punjab Assembly speaker is yet to give names of the two MPAs who will represent the province in the commission.

“The federal government has neither made any consultation about creation of new provinces nor taken the Punjab government into confidence about the commission on the division of Punjab,” Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif told reporters here on Friday.

“If the division of provinces is inevitable, a just and uniform policy should be devised for the entire country,” he said, opposing terms of reference of the parliamentary panel that focuses on the division of Punjab.

He said there was no justification for holding a meeting of the commission on the division of Punjab alone because the provincial leadership had strong reservations over the panel set up by the federal government.

He said the resolution passed by the Punjab Assembly about the creation of new provinces provided necessary guidelines for the purpose.

He said the resolution for creating new provinces and restoring the status of former princely state of Bahawalpur as a province was presented in the Punjab Assembly by the Pakistan Muslim League-N.

He said that if there was any justification for new provinces on administrative grounds, the policy should be properly implemented throughout the country.