PESHAWAR, Sept 25: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Minister for Information Mian Iftikhar Hussain has asked the federal government to abstain from withdrawal of powers delegated to the provinces under 18th Amendment, saying any such move would be strongly resisted.

The minister, who is also chairman of the Oversight Committee on Implementation of 18th Constitutional Amendment, said that withdrawal of powers from the provinces was against the spirit of the amendment.

He was chairing a meeting of the committee here on Tuesday.

Provincial Minister for Law Barrister Arshad Abdullah, MPA Adnan Khan Wazir and administrative secretaries of the devolved departments were also present at the meeting.

Senator Afrasiab Khattak and Bashir Ahmad Khan attended the meeting on special invitation.

Mr Hussain showed displeasure over the slow process of adoption and reformation of laws and directed the quarters concerned to expedite the process without any further delay.

He also stressed the need for formation of policies of each department in the public interest.

The meeting decided to set up a law cell for expediting work on the legislation process.

The proposed cell would complete its work within a month.

The meeting directed the administrative secretaries of the devolved departments to hold a special meeting to devise a future strategy.

Mr Hussain warned that strict action would be taken against the officials causing delay in implementation of the 18 Amendments.

He also demanded of the centre to hand over the assets of the devolved departments to the provinces.