The task before the NFC

THE inordinately long time taken to reconstitute the National Finance Commission (NFC) has led to a year’s delay in settling issues that should have been resolved immediately after the installation of the elected governments in November last year. If one goes by the objections already being raised by the provinces on the issue of shares in the federal divisible pool now in force, it may well take another year or so for the newly constituted NFC to come up with an agreed award. It is interesting to recall here the decisions taken in September 2002 by the now defunct NFC. The share of provinces in the divisible pool was raised from 37.5 per cent to 40 per cent. If one adds Rs20 billion allowed for subvention and Rs32 billion to be transferred to the provinces out of the collection from the 2.5 per cent GST for distribution among local governments, the total share of the provinces was projected to go up to 44 per cent. However, the basis for distribution of the 40 per cent from the total pool was kept the same as in the last five awards — population. Also the share of the NWFP in hydroelectricity profits was capped at six billion rupees and a committee was set up to calculate a new amount. No attention was paid to the demand of Balochistan for a share in the profits from Sui gas.

When the newly constituted NFC meets on November 18, all the four provinces are likely to renew their demand for a larger share in the divisible pool of resources. They back this demand by stressing the need for the federal government to downsize itself to some extent following devolution in the form of local governments. In this they are also supported by multilateral donors that say that provinces need to shoulder all those responsibilities exclusively on their own which fall in their domain. Also, the three smaller provinces are likely once again to object to using population as the only criterion for the distribution of resources from the divisible pool. Balochistan has argued that the area of the province should also be given weightage because it takes a lot more money to provide physical and social infrastructure to the widely dispersed population over a vast area.

For its part, the NWFP is not likely to accept the capping of its share in hydropower profits at six billion rupees. In fact, it would not only claim its unpaid dues under the existing formula, but also ask that its share be raised. As in the past, Sindh will ask for weightage for revenue collection, the continuous flow of migrants from the rest of the country as well from the neighbouring states and the consequent pressure on the law and order machinery and basic services and facilities and pockets of poverty in rural Sindh. And finally if the prime minister’s directive to the NRB to return various subjects back to the provinces from the local governments is implemented, then the share of the local governments amounting to Rs32 billion accruing from 2.5 per cent GST would also have to go down. This will be one more contentious issue for the new NFC to resolve. The hope is that a consensus among the provinces on all these issues will emerge without much loss of time so that it is possible for the government to make allocations in the next federal budget under the new award.

A tragic incident

THE firing by police in a Bahawalnagar village on unarmed protesters on Thursday, killing three and injuring eight others, suggests use of excessive force in tackling a law and order problem. The demonstrators were protesting against dacoities in which one person was killed and two motorcycles were snatched at gunpoint the previous day. They had placed the body of the dead person in front of the police station to register their protest. During the meeting with the protesters, the SHO reportedly used harsh language, not realizing the pent-up feelings of the crowd over the deteriorating law and order situation and failure of the police to provide security to the people. The torching of police station is something to be deplored. But there are also disconcerting reports of police protection of dacoits. Indifference to public complaints and the humiliation to which people are often subjected may have aggravated the situation.

Matters came to a head when the protesters regrouped after a baton charge, ransacking the offices of a rural health centre and damaging a vehicle there. When the protesters came out of the centre, the police opened fire on them, killing three people. Reports say that it was only after this extreme action that the people again attacked the police station and set it on fire. A fire brigade vehicle was also torched. In a further escalation, the demonstrators placed the bodies of the firing victims on the road and blocked traffic. Till late at night, the Punjab police chief and district Nazim were holding talks with the protesters for lifting the highway blockade.

It would have been better if this approach was adopted earlier so that the situation was prevented from worsening. In any case, there was no justification for opening fire on the protesters. This only shows the trigger-happy approach of the law enforcers especially in dealing with an agitated crowd. An impartial inquiry must be conducted into the incident and the guilty police officials punished.

Theme park

A controversy of sorts seems to have arisen over the Karachi city government’s plans to build an amusement park along the lines of major theme parks in the West. The city administration, and lately the provincial chief minister, have said that within a few years the city would have an amusement park that could rival any in the West. An imaginatively designed amusement park, not necessarily a spectacular one, is badly needed in Karachi, the country’s biggest urban centre, which is sorely lacking in parks and gardens to say nothing of recreation facilities. The problem, though, in the present case is with the intended location of the theme park and with the seemingly undemocratic manner in which the project has been thought of and formulated. City government officials have told reporters that the park will be built on a 25-acre plot right next to an already existing amusement park along the sea-side.

That area, because of the number of people it attracts, suffers from traffic congestion. One side of the proposed project site has a series of apartment complexes and a narrow service road which will hardly be able to take in the increased flow of vehicles when the park is built. A well-known NGO involved in conservation and proper public use of land has suggested an alternative that the city government should seriously consider. An amusement park as large as the one the proposal envisages should be built in an area which could benefit from its existence. Keeping that in mind, it would make sense to locate it at a distance from the crowded areas so that going to it can be a pleasant experience, something like a picnic. The city government should present the proposal for public debate and decide on the venue only after taking public opinion into account.