SENATE OF PAKISTAN No. CR­02 2015 REPORT OF THE STANDING COMMITTEE ON INTER­PROVINCIAL COORDINATION (I.P.C) (June 2013 to February 2015) Presented by Senator Mrs. Farah Aqil Chairperson Standing Committee on Inter­Provincial Coordination Prepared by Farzana Khan, Secretary Committee/D.G. (Interpretation), Senate. 1 “You must learn to distinguish between your love for your province and your love and duty to the State as a whole. Our duty to the State takes us a stage beyond provincialism. It demands a broader sense of vision, and (a) greater sense of patriotism. Our duty to the State often demands that we must be ready to submerge our individual or provincial interests into the common cause for common good. Our duty to the State comes first: our duty to our Province, to our district, to our town and to our village and ourselves comes next”. Quaid­e­Azam Speech at Islamia College, Peshawar, 12 April 1948 2 All correspondence to the Standing Committee may be addressed to the following: Senator Mrs. Farah Aqil, Chairperson, Senate Standing Committee on Inter­Provincial Coordination. Office No. 302­303, 3rd Floor, Ex­USAID Building Sector G­5, Islamabad, Cell: 0301­8593029. Phone: 051­9244851. Fax: 051­9223975. Email: [email protected] Ms. Farzana Khan, Director General, Interpretation, Secretary, Senate Standing Committee on Inter­Provincial Coordination. Cell: 0303­5266880 Office: 051­9213263 Email: [email protected] 3 Senator Mrs. Farah Aqil Chairperson Standing Committee on Inter­Provincial Coordination 4 Table of Contents Page Members of the Committee‐Pictorial View 06 Composition of the Committee on the basis of Party Affiliations 07 Preface 08‐11 Executive Summary 12‐22 Profiles of the Chairperson and Members 23‐35 Minutes of the Meetings 36‐122 5 Members of the Committee (Pictorial View) Senator Senator Senator Farah Aqil Saleem. Mandviwalla Kalsoom Perveen Senator (Chairperson Committee) Saeeda Iqbal Senator Senator Senator Mukhtiar Ahmed Senator Haji Ghulam Ali Karim Ahmed Khawaja Dhamrah Aajiz Suriya Amirudin Senator Senator Sirdar Zulfiqar Ali Khan Senator Mohammad Senator Nuzhat Sadiq Khosa Yousaf Mohammad Zafarullah Khan Dhandla 6 COMPOSITION OF THE COMMITTEE ON THE BASIS OF PARTY AFFILIATIONS: AWAMI NATIONAL PARTY (ANP) Senator Mrs. Farah Aqil Chairperson Committee PAKISTAN PEOPLES PARTY PARLIAMENTARIAN (PPPP) Senator Suriya Amiruddin Senator Dr. Saeeda Iqbal Senator Mukhtiar Ahmed Dhamrah @ Aajiz Senator Muhammad Yousaf Senator Saleem Manviwalla Senator Dr. Karim Ahmed Khawaja PAKISTAN MUSLIM LEAGUE –NAWAZ (PMLN) Senator Muhammad Zafarullah Khan Dhandla Senator Sirdar Zulfiqar Ali Khan Khosa Senator Mrs. Nuzhat Sadiq MUTTAHIDA QAUMI MOVEMENT (MQM) Senator Dr. Muhammad Farogh Naseem JAMIATUL­ULEMA­E­ISLAM­ F (JUI­F) Senator Haji Ghulam Ali. BALOCHISTAN NATIONAL PARTY AWAMI (BNP­A) Senator Mrs. Kalsoom Perveen 7 PREFACE Parliamentary Committees are extensively viewed as the indispensable and vibrant bodies of the Parliament, which work under a manifesto of executing an in‐depth examination of the matter in consideration thus enabling the Parliament in performing its core functions of legislation, oversight and representation. In almost all legislative systems, the Parliamentary Committees are established for the full life of the Parliament and share much of the workload of the Parliaments exhibited in a famous observation made by Woodrow Wilson:“Congress in session is Congress on public exhibition while Congress in its Committee Rooms is Congress at work”. Provincial autonomy is a byproduct of Federalism and widely considered as a ‘sine qua non’ for a federation and similarly for maturing democracies. Around twenty‐ four countries in the world, which constitute 40% of the world’s population, practice federalism1. Federal in nature and is appreciated for regular meetings of national and provincial executives, including national President and provincial Premiers2. The founding fathers during the struggle for an independent state all along advocated autonomy to the constituent units. The famous fourteen points of Quaid‐ e‐Azam also backed the autonomy of provinces where he states; “A uniform measure of autonomy shall be granted to all provinces”3. The amendment remained in the limelight for not only gifting autonomy to the provinces, which is being perceived by many as a panacea for growth, development and democracy4 but also because it ‘restored Pakistan’s constitution to its original intent of a decentralized federation of provinces as envisaged in the 1956 (two provinces) and 1973 (four provinces) Constitutions’ 5. 1 www.developmentpakistan.blogspot.com 2 The evidence provided in the paragraph has been extracted “South Africa: Reluctant Federalists by Richard Simeon”. 3“The Fourteen Points” (Point No.2) by Quaid‐e‐Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah; March 28, 1929 4Federalism and Provincial Autonomy by Akhtar Ali; December 2009 5 “The 18th Constitutional Amendment: Glue or Solvent for Nation Building and Citizenship in Pakistan”. The Lahore Journal of Economics, September 2012 8 As a result of this Amendment, the provinces are granted with legislative powers in almost fifty subjects that have been devolved from Federal to Provincial governments. With this shift of the legislative and policymaking power to the provinces, come numerous challenges. The federal government has to put unwavering efforts in addressing the requirements of the devolved subjects, because it calls for a rethink of the federal government engagement models. The provinces at present do not have enough capacity to owe the devolved ministries/departments. The federal government thus needs to assume new roles of enhanced coordination, advisory services and broad oversight. The Senate Standing Committee on Inter‐Provincial Coordination was thus constituted for the first time in the 65 year history of Pakistan aiming at injecting consistent efforts in catalyzing the smooth transition of provincial autonomy, which correspondingly will facilitate the relevant Ministry and attached departments in even functioning. The Committee is also accredited for being the first and the only Parliamentary Committee on Provincial Coordination around the globe. In this context, the major business of the Committee highlighted in the present Report focussed on the functions as envisaged in the mandate of the Ministry of IPC6. The mandate of the Ministry held the Committee responsible for: 1. Promoting harmony and trust amongst Provinces and in their relationships with the Federation of Pakistan. 2. Listening to the voices of the Provinces/federating units in all fields of common national concern and to encourage uniformity of approach to issues and cha lleng es. The Committee through its elaborate meetings and visits to the attached departments of the Ministry of Inter‐Provincial Coordination was able to identify the ambiguities left in the understanding of the departments functioning after the passage of 18th Amendment. The Committee also recommended to take some matters to the Council of Common Interests (C.C.I.) which is a constitutional body formed as a result of the Eighteenth Amendment. Besides this, the Committee also examined in detail, the competency of the provinces to perform the devolved functions and intimated the ministry and attached departments for devising mechanisms to enhance the capacity of the provinces. The Eighteenth Amendment in the constitutional history of Pakistan has beyond any doubt, helped the country in entering a new era of governance. The political, 6“Each committee shall deal with the subjects assigned to the ministry to which it is concerned”. Rule No.158 (2).Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in the Senate, 2012. 9 administrative and financial devolution, which are measured as the primary outcomes of the amendment have not only grasped the long‐voiced demand of the provinces but it has also provided a contemporary model of development to the nation as a w h o le. Unanimity of all the political parties in enacting the 18th Amendment Bill is definitely a commendable collective victory, however with such a huge vote bank also came laborious and demanding challenges, which are considered a part of the Amendment’s im plications. The Standing Committee on Inter‐Provincial Coordination by virtue of the 18th Amendment provides a platform for dialogue to its attached departments so as to enable them to resolve the policy issues especially at administrative and operational level, which have grown as an aftermath of the 18th constitutional Amendment. Having some highly distinguished Senators at its member list, the Standing Committee since the time of its constitution is exceedingly committed in vigilant monitoring of the Ministry of Inter‐Provincial Coordination, which aims at bringing provincial harmony. The Committee was also at the forefront in constantly connecting to the provincial stakeholders for endorsing a uniform approach in formulation of citizen friendly policies specifically in the Education and Health sector. The Report presented here offers a testimony to the efforts of the Committee since 2012 and is the second Report by the Senate Standing Committee on I.P.C. I hold this Report for public scrutiny with immense pleasure and with a hope that the report will be received well. The Report brings on record the performance of the Committee in two years, from June 2013 to February 2015. During this period the Committee held 12 well‐attended meetings. The steps taken by the Federal Government regarding the process