ISLAMABAD, Oct 20: The federal government is considering transferring 35 of the 47 subjects on the concurrent list to the provinces and giving more powers to provincial finance commissions, says Minister for Parliamentary Affair Dr Sher Afghan Niazi.
“We have proposed drastic revision of the concurrent list and more autonomy for provincial finance commissions to strengthen relations between the federation and the federating units”, he added.
He told Dawn that a decision had been taken in principle to do away with the concurrent list to restore the spirit of the 1973 Constitution.
“The centre needs to surrender many of its functions which can be better performed by the provinces,” the minister said.
Dr Niazi said that a parliamentary committee — headed by Senator Wasim Sajjad and comprising himself, Minister of Inter-provincial Coordination Salim Saifullah and National Reconstruction Bureau Chairman Daniyal Aziz — was finalising proposals on maximum autonomy for the provinces.
“The autonomy bill is expected to be presented in parliament soon,” Dr Niazi said.
He disagreed that the transfer of most of the subjects on the concurrent list to the provinces could weaken the federation, contrary to the opinion held by many people in the government.
“If the federation does not give increased autonomy to its federating units, we should forget about creating harmony across Pakistan”, the minister warned.
A senior official of the NRB told Dawn that a number of presentations had been given to the president and the prime minister on provincial autonomy. The issue, he said, was likely to be decided soon after another detailed meeting with the two leaders.
The proposals envisaged devolution of powers from the centre to the provinces and from the provinces to the local government institutions, he said.
The official said that the NRB had analysed constitutional, legal and administrative issues relating to the transfer of subjects from federation to provinces.
However, he conceded that all political parties represented on Wasim Sajjad-led committee did not concur with the proposal and a consensus was yet to be achieved.
DEVOLUTION: President Gen Pervez Musharraf, he said, had directed the officials concerned to work out a plan to ensure effective devolution of powers to district governments as envisaged in 2001.
“The president has called for strengthening local government structures, systems and procedures and establishing a transparency mechanism at district level, involving poor communities.”
He said that the NRB, in the light of the president’s directives, was working on a proposal of an improved institutional framework, promoting transparency and accountability of the local government structures.
Sources said that the United Nations Development Programme had offered financial and technical support to help ensure good governance to ensure success of the devolution programme.
Under the programme, they said, the National Reconstruction Bureau would formulate recommendations for introducing and implementing legal, judicial and police reforms.
After the completion of first two phases of the devolution process, the sources said, emphasis had now been shifted to consolidating and improving the redefined structures and system in terms of refining political, administrative, financial, law-enforcement and legal structures at federal, provincial and district levels.
“A focal consultant is being appointed to advise the NRB in developing proposals for new administrative structure and systems with focus on financial rules and procedures enabling provincial administrations to be synchronised with financial administration structure in the post-devolution scenario”, another source said.
The consultant would assist the National Reconstruction Bureau in designing, organising, conducting, monitoring and supervising capacity development initiatives under the overall devolution framework in collaboration with the provincial governments to enhance their capacity for implementation of local government systems, he added.