ISLAMABAD, Jan 2: The government wants to restore the executive magistracy system abolished by Gen Pervez Musharraf in 2001 and absorb employees of the devolved ministries into provincial and federal departments before the coming general election.

An official told Dawn on Wednesday that a meeting of the Inter-Provincial Coordination Committee (IPCC) had been convened on Thursday to take up a host of crucial issues, including supply of opium seized by law-enforcement agencies to a state-owned factory in Lahore.

The meeting to be presided over by Inter-Provincial Coordination Minister Hazar Khan Bijarani is expected to be attended by the chief ministers and chief secretaries of the four provinces, federal ministers for interior, human resource development, narcotics control and finance and secretaries of the ministries concerned.

On top of the agenda is restoration of the executive magistracy system that was abolished in August 2001 under a local body reform process.

The national price monitoring committee, comprising federal and provincial finance secretaries and chief secretaries, has demanded restoration of the system, to be able to rein in unbridled increase in prices of essential commodities because of lack of legal powers available to the provinces to take action against hoarders.

The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government has assigned the powers of first class magistrate to all district food controllers to maintain price stability and Punjab has appointed 352 magistrates for the purpose but they are facing problems in the execution of their orders in the absence of enabling laws. According to sources, consumer courts in Balochistan and special magistrates in Sindh are also facing problems.

The official said the provinces generally agreed on the need for revival of the executive magistracy system.

In all likelihood, the Local Bodies Ordinance of 2001 would be repealed and more powers would be given to executive magistrates, he said.

Before the ordinance was promulgated, commissioners and deputy commissioners also enjoyed judicial powers in certain cases that would now be restored, he added.

The meeting will also take up the issue of absorption of employees of the federal government who became surplus following devolution of various ministries to the provinces under the 18th Amendment.

An official said the government wanted to complete the absorption process within two months and would try to work out a formula for their merger in the federal and provincial governments.

The meeting is also likely to discuss promulgation of the Industrial Relations Ordinance of 2011 and approve supply of opium seized by law-enforcement agencies to the government-owned Alkaloid Opium Factory in Lahore.