Rabbani accuses Centre of trying to reduce provinces’ share in NFC

Published April 1, 2019
In a statement on Saturday, Mr Rabbani said that the IMF and the centrist mindset were unhappy with the vertical distribution of 57.5 per cent of the divisible pools to the provinces. — APP/File
In a statement on Saturday, Mr Rabbani said that the IMF and the centrist mindset were unhappy with the vertical distribution of 57.5 per cent of the divisible pools to the provinces. — APP/File

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Senator Mian Raza Rabbani has alleged that Islamabad at the behest of the ‘centrist mindset’ and International Monetary Fund (IMF) is trying to circumvent the provisions of Article 160(3A) of the Constitution which provide that the share of the provinces in National Finance Commission (NFC) Award shall not be less than the share given in the previous Award.

In a statement on Saturday, Mr Rabbani said that the IMF and the centrist mindset were unhappy with the vertical distribution of 57.5 per cent of the divisible pools to the provinces.

“They, in fact, want to reduce this amount by at least 10 per cent, therefore, they are finding ways and means to circumvent Article 160(3A),” he said, adding the federal government “is placing demands on the provinces to contribute in the development projects in the erstwhile Fata (Federally Administered Tribal Areas), Gilgit-Baltistan and the Azad Jammu and Kashmir.

PPP senator says provinces being asked to make a contribution to projects such as BISP and Higher Education Commission

“They are also asking for contribution from the provinces for the maintenance of the security force for the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) projects and in the overall internal security in terms of terrorism,” he said, adding “these are methods of funding federal projects with the resources allocated to the provinces and reducing their allocation from the previous NFC Award.”

Mr Rabbani, who has served as the Senate chairman, said that provinces were reportedly being asked to make a contribution to federal projects such as Benazir Income Support Programme and Higher Education Commission. He said such circumventions of constitutional provisions dealing with and pertaining to provincial autonomy had been done in the past as well, their result had been disastrous as it had affected constitutional governance and created polarisation between the federation and the provinces and the provinces themselves.

Published in Dawn, April 1st, 2019

Opinion

Editorial

Trump 2.0
Updated 07 Nov, 2024

Trump 2.0

It remains to be seen how his promises to bring ‘peace’ to Middle East reconcile with his blatantly pro-Israel bias.
Fait accompli
07 Nov, 2024

Fait accompli

A SLEW of secretively conceived and hastily enacted legislation has achieved its intended result: the powers of the...
IPP contracts
07 Nov, 2024

IPP contracts

THE government expects the ongoing ‘negotiations’ with power producers aimed at revising the terms of sovereign...
Rushed legislation
Updated 06 Nov, 2024

Rushed legislation

For all its stress on "supremacy of parliament", the ruling coalition has wasted no opportunity to reiterate where its allegiances truly lie.
Jail reform policy
06 Nov, 2024

Jail reform policy

THE state is making a fresh attempt to improve conditions in Pakistan’s penitentiaries by developing a national...
BISP overhaul
06 Nov, 2024

BISP overhaul

IT has emerged that the spouses of over 28,500 Sindh government employees have been illicitly benefiting from BISP....