LAHORE, April 24: Finance Minister Shaukat Aziz has asked Balochistan and NWFP governments to nominate their private non-statutory members on the National Finance Commission to pave the way for its reconstitution.

Punjab has already decided to retain former finance secretary Saeed Qureishi as its private non-statutory member and Sindh is reported to have nominated former civil servant Abdul Karim Lodhi.

The previous NFC constituted by the military regime back in 2001 to finalize the sixth award failed to do the job on time and the 1997 Award, whose five-year tenure expired on June 30, 2002, had to be extended for another year.

However, the commission abandoned further work on the new award in October after the then military regime decided to leave the task of announcing the award for the elected government. The commission became defunct after the transfer of power to the elected government in November and required reconstitution.

So far, the government has not been able to reconstitute the commission though four-and-a-half months have elapsed because the country got its federal finance minister, who heads the NFC, only recently.

“(Now) its reconstitution is being delayed because the NWFP and Balochistan have not given names of their private non-statutory members,” Punjab Finance Minister Sardar Hasnain Bahadur Dareshik told this reporter on Thursday.

He said Mr Aziz had asked the two provinces to submit the names of their non-statutory members. Sindh is reported to have supported the proposal because it will provide federating units with some financial relief.