QUETTA, May 5: Balochistan Finance Minister Syed Ehsan Shah has stressed the need to convene the National Finance Commission meeting before budget to determine a new award, saying that the existing formula of resource distribution would cause financial problems for the province.
Speaking to Dawn here on Monday, he stated that Balochistan would nominate its members for the commision in a couple of days, saying that the provincial government could not plan the Public Sector Development Programme for 2003-04, without raise in the share of divisible pool to the province.
Ehsan Shah said the Balochistan government was not intimated by the federal government regarding the continuation of existing National Finance Commission award for another fiscal year, and added that provincial government was unwilling to go ahead with such proposal.
The minister observed that the National Finance Commission meeting was essential before the budget for making preparations to plan the Public Sector Development Programme for the province according to the available resources in the share allocated in the award.
He did not agree with the perception that holding of the National Finance Commission meeting was not possible keeping in view the shortage of time ahead of the forthcoming budget, and said there were still about two months to resolve important issues.
Ehsan Shah demanded that the federal government should provide Rs7 billion to Balochistan owing to shortfall in previous years, besides gas development surcharge.
He demanded that Balochistan should be compensated and accommodated if the new National Finance Commission award did not take place before the budget.
COMMITTEE: The Jamhoori Watan Party (JWP) has formed a four-member committee to negotiate with the other political parties of the province for evolving a line of action in view of Balochistan’s prevailing situation.
The committee will hold meetings with the leadership of Balochistan National Party (Mengal group) on May 6, in this regard.
A decision for establishing contacts with the other parties was taken here on Monday at a meeting of the JWP Polit-Bureau.
The meeting reviewed provincial situation in view of a possible military operation in the province as decided by the federal government last week. It also discussed political and other issues of the province.
Participants of the meeting also discussed the controversial Legal Framework Order (LFO) and expressed their reservations on it.
The meeting reiterated its stand on the issue, saying that all articles of the LFO should be discussed in parliament.
Members of the JWP-formed body are: Mir Humayun Khan Marri, Agha Shahid Bugti, Senator Amanullah Kanrani and Mir Zahoor Hussain Khosa.