PESHAWAR, July 19: The provincial government has constituted a 14-member committee, headed by Education Minister Maulana Fazle Ali Haqqani, to prepare a comprehensive document on the quantum of provincial autonomy being demanded by smaller federating units since the scrapping of One Unit in 1970.

The committee was constituted at the provincial cabinet’s meeting, presided over by Chief Minister Akram Khan Durrani, at the Frontier House on Thursday.

Provincial Ministers Sardar Mohammad Idress, Asif Iqbal Daudzai, Inyatullah Khan, Shah Raz Khan, Hussain Ahmed Kanju, administrative secretaries for home and tribal affairs, finance, irrigation and power, law, establishment, excise and taxation, NWFP advocate-general and Fata additional chief secretary would be members of the committee.

The committee would hold its first meeting on July 21.

The cabinet discussed all aspects of the provincial autonomy and vowed that the Mutahidda Majlis-i-Amal government would not make any compromise on the rights of the province and its people.

The cabinet directed the committee to prepare a comprehensive report on the issue and submit it to the government. The cabinet meeting focussed on the financial and administrative aspects of the provincial autonomy.

It directed all administrative secretaries to provide full support to the committee, which would work round the clock to finalise its recommendations on the issue.

Mr Durrani informed the cabinet that the NWFP was unable to utilise its share of water even after the water apportionment accord.

He said other provinces had been using the NWFP’s share of water without taking it into confidence. He proposed that the NWFP should devise a mechanism and sell its share of water to other provinces.

He said as the NWFP lacked a proper infrastructure and could not utilise irrigation water, it would be better to discuss the matter with other provinces and persuade them to pay for the irrigation water being used by them.

He said the province needed a network of canals to irrigate its barren lands, adding that owing to financial constraints, it was not possible for the provincial government to construct canals.

The cabinet also discussed the deteriorating law and order situation in the province and directed district governments to constitute peace committees at police station, tehsil and district levels and seek assistance from notables of their areas.

Mr Durrani asked ministers to visit their districts and monitor the working of peace committees in their constituencies.

He underlined the need for strengthening the jirga system, which was the only solution to resolve many problems.