HYDERABAD, Aug 30: Sindh Taraqqi Pasand Party chairman Dr Qadir Magsi has lashed out at the federal government for trying to get the NFC Award approved in an indecent haste and thrust it upon the provinces.
In a statement issued here on Friday, he said that during the last 55 years Punjab had usurped all the economic resources of the provinces.
He said when East Pakistan was an integral part of the country, resources of other provinces were looted by Punjab by introducing the formula of parity after thrusting the One Unit on the West wing provinces but when East Pakistan became Bangladesh, the parity formula was replaced with population to loot the resources of other provinces.
He claimed that Sindh contributed 68 per cent to the federal budget but it received less than 15 per cent from the divisible pool. He said the inequitable distribution of funds had created economic crisis in Sindh and the Sindh government was even unable to pay salaries to its own employees.
He alleged that in 1997 the unelected government in Islamabad had forced the caretaker governments of the provinces to sign the NFC Award, which had harmed the interests of Sindh to unimaginable extent.
He said the same exercise was being repeated now and the un-elected government at Islamabad was forcing the un-elected governments of the provinces to sign the NFC Award on the dotted lines.
He said that the objections and the demands of Sindh should be considered dispassionately before announcing the NFC Award.
He said as far as the Sindh Taraqqi Pasand Party was concerned its principled stand had always been that the right of the provinces over their own resources should be accepted and the provinces should be given full provincial autonomy to spend their resources on the socio-economic development of their respective provinces.
He demanded that the NFC Award should be left for the elected representatives of the people so that the masses could make them accountable.
MUET: The 21st meeting of the senate of Mehran University of Engineering and Technology (MUET), Jamshoro, was held on Thursday.
The senate approved the revised recurring budget estimates of Rs199.877 million for the year 2001-2002 and annual recurring budget estimates of Rs222.400 million for the year 2002-2003.
A budget deficit of more than Rs30 million is estimated due to revision of pay scales, inadequate government grant, increase in utility bills and petrol and oil lubricant and reduction in bank profit. The senate unanimously resolved to request the government to enhance the base line recurring grant of the university by Rs30 million.