Features on Federalism Features on Federalism

Editorial Board

Zafarullah Khan, Adnan Rehmat, Shiza Malik

First edition: December 2013

The views expressed in this publication are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of the UNDP and CCE-Pakistan.

Centre for Civic Education Pakistan (CCE) and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) will welcome use, reproduction and dissemination of the contents of this publication for training, educational and advocacy purposes with proper acknowledgment. Every effort has been made to ensure accuracy. We will appreciate provision of accurate information to improve the next edition.

This publication has been carried under UNDP's project, “Strengthening Participatory Federalism and Decentralization.” Centre for Civic Education Pakistan, as part of the project is working towards generating knowledge products and to arrange learning events about Pakistani federalism through dialogues, research and training.

Contact information

Strengthening Participatory Centre for Civic Education Pakistan Federalism and Decentralization G.P.O Box: 1123, Islamabad Democratic Governance Unit, UNDP – Pakistan. Web: www.civiceducation.org 6th Floor, Serena Business Complex Islamabad Web: http//www.undp.org.pk

Title: Mural of Unity by students of National College of Arts, Rawalpindi Campus at a UNDP Conference on "Participatory Federalism and Decentralization: from Framework to Designed By Functionality", September 2013 S. Waqas Kazmi Guest Editorial

Strengthening Participatory Federalism and Decentralization (SPFD) is a multi-year, multi-tier and multi-stakeholder project launched by UNDP, Pakistan against the backdrop of the 18th Constitutional Amendment (2010). The SPFD views the 18th Amendment through a governance, development and public policy lens and identifies strategic areas of intervention to support the process of transition management at federal, provincial and local levels. The core objective of the Project is to develop policy support and institutional mechanisms strengthening effective service delivery at the grassroots level in a manner that is transparent and accountable to the people at large.

SPFD Project collaborated with the Centre for Civic Education to produce features on different aspects of 18th Amendment, federalism, local governments, right to Information, educational reforms, and provincial autonomy. The objective of this modest effort is to create a body of knowledge on contemporary issues informing the debates on federalism and decentralization in Pakistan.

We have been privileged that leading subject experts including Dr Muhammad Waseem, Dr. Haider Nizamani, Dr. Pervez Tahir, Naseer Memon, Salman Abid, Zahid Abdullah, Jami Chandio, Shahzad Zulfiqar, Syed Ali Shah, Azam Khan, Dr Khadim Hussain and Mohsin Aziz have authored pieces for Citizens Wire featuring different aspects of federalism in Pakistan. We are also honored to have renowned and politically conscientious artist Sabir Nazar for capturing the themes of federalism and decentralization through his imaginative drawing and cartooning.

SPFD plans to continue supporting different avenues of development of knowledge products that raise awareness amongst different stakeholders about issues regarding 18th Amendment, federalism and local government in Pakistan. It is hoped that you will find this compendium of articles useful and we hope it leads to a better understanding of issues surrounding the transition management and implementation of the 18th Constitutional Amendment.

Amjad Bhatti National Technical Advisor SPFD, UNDP-Pakistan

01 www.citizenswire.com Editorial

It gives us great pleasure to present this collection of selected articles from our information for democracy initiative Citizen's Wire (www.citizenswire.com).

While the emergence of the internet has led to changing media consumption habits around the world, with more and more people receiving their dose of news and articles online, we at the Centre for Civic Education continue to see the value of content in its printed form. It is our hope that this print version of the Citizen's Wire will be of convenience to those readers who do not have access to the internet. Further, this version has been put together as an archival collection of articles published during 2013 and can serve to encourage our readers as well as our contributors.

The year 2013 was as eventful and tumultuous as any year in a vibrant developing democracy, such as ours, can be. However, for this version of the Citizen's Wire care was taken to choose articles centered around themes rather than events as episodic pieces are of transient relevance while the themes around which articles were commissioned are likely to remain critically important to Pakistan. These themes include Federalism, Right to Information, Local Government and Education. While doing so proved to be a formidable challenge, efforts were also made to put together a picture representative of our Federation, including perspectives from all four Provinces, as well as the Capital. We also included cartoons from Sabir Nazar and a Civic Thought for each month.

It was hoped that through these articles, healthy debate would be generated around the topics of Federalism and Local Government, which would be helpful in the achievement of the goals set out by the project "Strengthening Participatory Federalism and Decentralization" carried out by the Centre for Civic Education with support from the United Nations Development Fund.

We extend our heartfelt gratitude and appreciation for our readers and contributors who have made this endeavour, a success. We hope that this association will continue in the future and perhaps through our humble efforts, together we can make a contribution albeit small, towards the progress of our nascent democracy.

Shiza Malik Progamme Officer CCE Pakistan

02 www.citizenswire.com Constitution As A User-Manual Of Statecraft

Dr. Haider Nizamani

Why should there be concern for constitution in a country where military regimes have suspended, tampered with, and, even drafted constitutions? Modern day constitutions are user-manuals for states. User manuals are enclosed with electronic and other mechanical products for good reasons - they are to become the document to be consulted from the setting up of the product to troubleshooting.

States are far more complex entities than an automobile or a mobile phone. Leadership that puts effort into the drafting a robust user-manual contributes in providing much needed stability to the polity. Another enduring quality of a good constitution is its ability to troubleshoot when the managers of the state run into problems. Above all, a constitution would be no more than a piece of paper if the very people who are supposed to uphold it, flout it. Unlike Pakistan, leadership in neighboring India following independence, for the most part, created and abided by its constitution whereas in Pakistan this path was avoided. These varying choices had far-reaching consequences for the two countries.

Pakistan and India gained independence in 1947 and the Modern day delegates selected from the pool of those elected in 1945 provincial elections formed the Constituent Assembly for constitutions are United India in 1946. The 1935 Government of India Act user-manuals served as a user-manual for the new states at their birth in August 1947. The Indian leadership wasted no time and for states. started to work in earnest to frame a constitution. It was by no means an easy task but the leadership did not use difficulties as an excuse to put constitution making on hold. Towering figures like Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, brilliant legal minds like Bhim Rao Ambedkar, a Dalit who was vocal opponent of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, among others put in countless hours over the next two years and by November 1949 were able to submit to the Constituent Assembly the draft constitution. The Constituent Assembly in India passed the new constitution for the country on January 26, 1950. India's first general elections based on universal adult franchise were held a year later under the new constitution. With 96 amendments down the road, the Indian Constitution remains an agreed-upon user-manual for a country with a population of over one billion citizens. Ramchandra Guha, popular historian and commentator, is of the view that thanks to the genius and hard-work of India's early leaders even leaders of mediocre caliber are able to run the republic without fear of being taken over by unelected institutions.

Leaders who were at the helm of affairs in Pakistan chose to avoid the adoption of the constitution in true letter and spirit. The Government of India Act of 1935 in essence remained the user manual for the new republic. Instead of legislative complexity and compromises, Pakistani leaders chose executive fiat to govern the heterogeneous society. The political leadership in Karachi, Pakistan's first capital, increasingly leaned upon civil and military bureaucracies to impose their writ and stay in power. This was an easy and preferred arrangement for Pakistan's unelectable and unimaginative

03 www.citizenswire.com A constitution leadership running the show at the center. The first would be no more constitution of Pakistan promulgated in 1956 had a short lifespan. than a piece of paper if the very The armed forces staged its first coup in 1958 and suspended the constitution. The 1956 constitution came people who are at the heels of the One Unit policy through which four supposed to provinces in the western wing were merged into one uphold it, flout it. administrative unit to create parity between the eastern and western wings of the country. The imposition of One Unit negated the principle of federation as the political foundation of the country. Bengal, now re-branded as East Pakistan, was put on parity by merging four provinces of West Pakistan into a single unit. The 1962 constitution was a product of the military regime of Ayub Khan and was tailor-made to strengthen and perpetuate the rule by the junta in Pakistan.

Federating units were made subservient to the diktat of the center and parliamentary form of government was dropped without due process in favor of a presidential form of government. During the first 25 years of its existence, Pakistan had two arbitrarily drafted constitutions backed up by authoritarian rule which led to political alienation in East Pakistan. The unrepresentative nature of the country's peculiar constitutional trajectory was a contributing factor in the break-up of the country in 1971 when East Pakistan seceded to become independent Bangladesh.

The 1973 Constitution was the now truncated Pakistan's first agreed upon user-manual adopted on April 10, 1973. It was held in “abeyance,” a euphemism employed by General Zia-ul-Haq, four years later. A full 37 years later in the same month, the parliament passed the Eighteenth Amendment to rehabilitate the much-battered user- manual for Pakistan.

The 1973 Constitution was a step forward but its drafting should be placed in the context of the separation of East Pakistan where the Awami League party had campaigned from a platform advocating maximum provincial autonomy echoing the views of Sindhi nationalists. The military regimes of General Zia-ul-Haq from 1977 to 1988 and later General Pervez Musharraf from 1999 to 2008 transformed the 1973 Constitution to the point of being unrecognizable, making Pakistani more of a centralized state with unitary features than a robust federation.

The chequered history of constitutional politics and politics of constitutions in Pakistan has led to a political culture where the constitution is viewed by significant sections of political forces, both civilian and non-civilian, more as a nuisance than a vibrant and robust user-manual of political arrangements for an ethnically and linguistically diverse polity. Violation of the constitutions by the military has contributed to a milieu where political forces such as militant Islamists denounce the existing constitution and deem it fit to make demands of altering it through use of force. In order for the constitution to serve as an effective user-manual for Pakistan it is vital that the elected politicians treat it as such and abide by it in letter and spirit.

[Dr. Haider Nizamani is an academician based in Canada]

04 www.citizenswire.com Federalism in Pakistan: Problems and Prospects

Dr. Mohammad Waseem

The current federalist arrangements for sharing the political landscape of Pakistan amongst its constituent parts represent the wish list of the political leadership, especially from the smaller provinces, more than the reality on the ground. The history of federalism in Pakistan is a case of the adage 'two steps forward, one step backwards'. At the heart of the problem lies the conflict between the state elite – known in common parlance as the 'Establishment' – and the political elite that fights elections from the platform of political parties, operates through the floors of elected assemblies at the federal and provincial levels and makes and implements laws.

As a result, for half a century the political system remained federal in form but unitary in substance. The landmark 18th Amendment, a set of over 100 changes to the Constitution restoring the federal nature of the state and greater empowering of the provinces, enacted in 2010 was an attempt to meet the persistent demand for provincial autonomy and expand the scope of 'institutional pluralism' as represented by federalism.

The state elite typically identified with the army and the bureaucracy has an overarching security orientation. In the 1950s it pushed for putting together a One Unit amalgamating the four provinces and Princely States of West Pakistan, thus eliminating federalism from that region. The two constitutions of 1956 and 1962 were based on the concept of One Unit and inter-wing (East Pakistan-West Pakistan) parity even as the East wing had the majority of the country's population. Non-accommodation of Bengali nationalist aspirations for provincial autonomy, for a quarter of a century, led to secession of East Pakistan in 1971 to become independent Bangladesh.

05 www.citizenswire.com At the other end, the political elite have all along struggled for The history of electoral democracy, parliamentary rule and, in the case of federalism in Sindh, Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces, provincial autonomy. Perceptions about 'Punjabization' of the Pakistan is a state pushed these provinces to demand for transferring the case of the legislative subjects included in the Concurrent List of the 1973 adage 'two Constitution to the provinces. The 1973 Constitution had sought to offset the fears of demographic preponderance of steps forward, Punjab by creating the Senate as the territorial chamber one step where all provinces enjoyed equal representation. However, this move was countered by the continuing asymmetrical backwards'. policy scope of the National Assembly and the Senate and thus kept the smaller federating units far from satisfied.

The 18th Amendment strengthened the provinces, put institutional arrangements in place for implementing the constitutional reforms and thus took a big leap forward in the direction of mature federalism. The Punjab-based Pakistan Muslim League-N led by Nawaz Sharif and its breakaway faction Pakistan Muslim League-Q headed by Shujaat Hussain felt obliged to go along with the emerging consensus among political parties for the fear of isolation.

However, the post- 18th Amendment period has suffered from the lack of will on the part of the all-powerful bureaucracy to go the whole hog in transferring state authority of the specified departments and divisions of the federal government to provincial governments. The success of the political parties to reach a consensus in formulating the law pertaining to equitable distribution of power between the federation and provinces seems to have run into formidable challenges at the stage of implementation.

The 2013 elections have brought about an anomalous situation. On the one hand, Punjab has emerged as the power base of the new PML-N government, along with its traditional tilt in favor of a strong center. On the other hand, the three smaller provinces display a strident federalist orientation based on provincial autonomy. The Pakistan People's Party government in Sindh and the Pakistan Tehrik Insaf led government in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa jealously guard their autonomy vis-à-vis the PML-N-dominated center. In Balochistan, the nationalist-led coalition government is doing a tightrope-walk between federal policies and provincial realities. It seems that the federalist project is losing its momentum, if not its legitimacy based on the principal objective of the 18th Amendment.

The urban middle class that operates as the catchment area for recruitment of civilian and, increasingly, military officers, remains hooked on such precepts as unity of command, presidential form of government and securitization of the national vision. It considers federalism a framework that dilutes state authority. The state elite draws upon this segment of the population – dominated by Punjabis and Mohajirs – for its centralist disposition. Similarly, a large part of the media continues to look at politics from the perspective of Islamabad rather than Quetta, Peshawar or Karachi. It has failed to cultivate, elucidate and disseminate the federalist discourse, after the initial euphoria over the 18th Amendment.

06 www.citizenswire.com At the other end, the Sindhi, Pakhtun and Baloch nationalist discourse finds the 18th Amendment far from satisfactory. At the same time, it continues to project the agenda of maximum provincial autonomy beyond the mere black letter law into the next stage of implementation of the Amendment. In this context, three aspects of the process of federalization need to be considered if the nation seeks a long-term and satisfactory resolution of the deeply embedded conflicts relating to ethnic federalism. First and foremost, the national discourse must move away from a negative view of the current federal institutional-constitutional arrangement upheld by some of the powers that are in favor of a pluralist and inclusive framework of thought and practice for exercise of state authority.

Secondly, the current process of transfer of ministries and departments from Islamabad to provincial capitals must continue unabated and accelerated, not only to fulfill a constitutional requirement but also to establish political stability on ground. This will ensure that extremist views leaning towards separatism do not assume primacy in the federating units. Cultivation of the will to live together should be the guiding principle for all units of the federation. The process of implementation of the 18th Amendment must be safeguarded from any attempts to derail the evolving pattern of a share-out of resources among the provinces.

Finally, there should be an open-ended approach to the process of federalization in general. Multiple ethnic entities and identities in Pakistan not only push for a higher quantum of provincial autonomy but also, as in the case of minority communities in all the four provinces, operate as a breeding house of demands for creation of new provinces. Unlike India, this is a tall order given the constitutional and procedural bottlenecks in Pakistan. This needs to be streamlined in order to accommodate the restive communities within the The 18th federalist design. Apart from this lateral process of Amendment federalization, a vertical process relates to local bodies. strengthened the Both the mainstream parties - such as the PML-N, PPP and PTI - and ethnic parties, such as the ANP, have been less provinces, put than keen to hold elections for local government. The fact institutional that military rulers opted for strengthening local bodies arrangements in (1959, 1979 and 2001), allegedly to cut across the local organizational base of political parties, remains a thorn in place for the side of elected governments in the provinces. implementing the Throughout the post-independence period, they struggled constitutional to transfer various powers from the federation to the provinces. In this situation of acute insecurity, they have reforms and thus been unwilling to transfer any administrative or financial took a big leap powers down to the districts. However, the Supreme Court of forward in the Pakistan's order of July 2013 to hold local bodies elections indicates that the issue of establishment of a third tier of direction of government at the local level cannot be pushed under the mature carpet any more. Pakistan can consolidate itself as a viable federalism. political system only through devolutionary federalism.

[Dr. Mohammad Waseem is renowned political scientist, currently associated with Lahore University of Management Sciences]

07 www.citizenswire.com Federal Challenges to Polity: Sindh Perspective

Jami Chandio

Since its inception in 1947 Pakistan has been faced with a lingering crisis of federalism. Early decisions to centralize power deprived smaller provinces of their most pressing demands for joining the new state: increased national/provincial autonomy and the devolution of power. For six decades, the promise of federalism has eroded under the weight of bouts of unfettered military rule, imbalanced and undemocratic state structures and the domination of all federal institutions by Punjab. With outside attention trained on Islamic insurgency, observers are missing the most crucial dynamic in Pakistani politics - that of declining inter-provincial harmony.

The specter of separatist movements once again haunts The federal center Pakistan, which has been on the verge of becoming a failed has acquired state for a long time now. To survive these existing crises immense control Pakistan must adopt further transformative constitutional reforms that limit the reach of the center to the fields of over government defense, foreign policy, currency and other inter-provincial and economic matters. By restoring a balance of power both between the policy, executive and legislative branches and between the center and the provinces, Pakistan can move a pivotal step closer shortchanging the to substantive democracy, participatory federalism and provinces and sustainable political stability. indigenous Once the partition of the Indian sub-continent was peoples whose completed, the initial promises of autonomy and devolution interests are not of power went unfulfilled by Pakistan's ruling elite. Critical being represented. decisions taken by the center concerning the ratification of constitutions and governing documents, the elevation of Urdu language, and the amalgamation of the provinces of West Pakistan into the One Unit scheme in 1955 deprived the provinces of the authority and position in the federation they expected upon joining the union. Federalism was bankrupted purposively, culminating in the secession of East Pakistan into independent Bangladesh and the subjugation of the smaller provinces to the ruling Punjabi-Urdu speaking nexus.

The federal discourse moves on to exploring the issues and consequences of the denial of inclusive federalism for current Pakistan politics. The federal center has acquired immense control over government and economic policy, shortchanging the provinces and indigenous peoples whose interests are not being represented. Not only does one province dominate decision-making processes, military and bureaucratic appointments and the state coffers, but smaller provinces have suffered destructive cultural, linguistic, and economic policies. With national identity and linguistic diversity denied, the provincial assemblies have witnessed a receding of authority and resources are being disproportionately exploited without commensurate compensation for their places of origin. Conflicts have arisen throughout the country: between the center and the provinces, between larger and smaller provinces, and between the provinces and the

08 www.citizenswire.com districts. Pakistan is truly in a state of flux and uncertainty. Genuine Inclusive federalism offers the most democratic system to devolution govern Pakistan's diverse array of nationalities and communities. Genuine devolution of power in a federalist of power in a manner could provide for the democratic resolution to these federalist manner intra-state conflicts and promotion of inter-provincial could provide for harmony as well as help to protect language and cultural rights of all nationalities and communities. Governance the democratic could be improved across the country as provinces are resolution to these more aware and responsive to the needs of their citizens, intra-state not just developmentally but also culturally and linguistically. The integrity of the Pakistani state must be achieved conflicts and through equality and justice. promotion of inter-provincial Pakistan's state-related multidimensional crisis is no more a secret. From an international perspective Pakistan is harmony as well seen as a dysfunctional state with few ready to rely on it. as help to protect The catastrophe of religious extremism is hovering over not language and only in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa but across the country, which has exposed the capacity constraints of state institutions. cultural rights of all Despite expending major share of public resources on nationalities and defense for six decades the state has failed to protect its communities. citizens. The situation in Balochistan has reached a point where the national anthem cannot be played in many government schools there.

In Pakistan not a single day passes without news of target killings in Sindh, protests, hunger strikes and acts of violence in parts of the other provinces. There is no check over the breach of law and order. Rising poverty and alarming unemployment has deprived common people of their fundamental right to live. The energy crisis coupled with mismanagement has dragged the very system to doldrums. The pertinent issues of the federation and its constituent units, i.e., implementation of the 18th Constitutional Amendment of the constitution in letter and spirit, fiscal awards, fair distribution of water resources, complete ownership of the provinces over local natural resources, substantial parliamentary democracy and the supremacy of the parliament in all the affairs of state, and above all provincial autonomy, remain key challenges to the federation of Pakistan.

Not only the current generation but even those in the vanguard of the foundation of Pakistan seem disillusioned in the country's future as a functional, democratic and state based on principles of democratic federalism and unity in diversity. Despite this, the optimistic and the prudent seem united in the idea that the only hope for the survival and continuance of Pakistan lies in the country operating as a functional federation..

The nearly seven-decade old federation of Pakistan is mired in a myriad of crises. Theories abound of what lies in Pakistan's future with various groups terming it as a “failed state,” “a nursery and asylum for terrorists” and or “client state” governed and exploited by world powers pursuing their own interests. A variety of conflicts between

09 www.citizenswire.com the citizens and the state are rising, fueled by anger over Each rift in the bad governance, lack of basic service provision and growth state's of radicalization. fabric – regional, Even with the relatively empowered parliament, ethnic, linguistic, independent judiciary and free media and a vibrant civil and society, Pakistan has yet to fully find itself on the path to religious – adds substantial democracy and democratic federalism based to the complexity on complete autonomy for constituent federating units. Democratic changes, while deceptively attractive, are of the ongoing merely a superficial façades painted over a fractured polity national crisis. and it is difficult to cover up ineptness and ineffectiveness of democratic institutions in terms of meeting people's expectations. The pendulum of public opinion may have swung back once again in the favor of civilian government (conforming to the historical cycles of civil-military relations) in the shape of a democratic transfer of power in 2013 elections but there seems little radical shift having taken place in the civil-military equation tilted in favor of the Establishment.

Whatever remained of the hollowing out of federalist structures was badly damaged by the military regime of General Pervez Musharraf (1999-2008) with substantial democratic federalism still an unfolding reality. Smaller provinces are infuriated by the denial of diversity, absence of official status of indigenous languages of federating units, construction of the controversial greater Thal Canal, unsatisfactory National Finance Commission awards to the provinces, unequal distribution of royalties from natural resources and the continuing military operation in Balochistan. Many fear that the conflicts among provinces and various sections of society are no longer of peaceful opposition and becoming violent resistance.

Even the most destabilizing situation in Pakistan's history, the secession of East Pakistan to become independent Bangladesh, pales in comparison with the current crisis of confidence in the federation. Each rift in the state's fabric – regional, ethnic, linguistic, and religious – adds to the complex dimension of the ongoing national crisis.

Even though citizens have matured politically, seemingly abandoning Islamist and fiercely anti-Indian ideologies in favor of democratic and positively moderate platforms, perfunctory promises of reform and renewal un-backed by action no longer placate growing unrest; people across the country readily fill the streets to protest failed leadership. Further limited in policy options, the civilian governments, irrespective of its leadership, must adopt an approach that eases the inter-provincial conflicts that lie at the heart of Pakistan's struggle. Without urgent action, the existential noose around the state's feeble institutions, tightened by mistrust, isolation and insurgency will strangle Pakistan's hopes for inclusive democracy and a prosperous future.

We must return Pakistan to the state promised and outlined in the 1940 Lahore Resolution. Exploitation, manipulation and autocratic enslavement of the people must end. This is the time to draw a line. The people of Pakistan, especially from smaller provinces and oppressed nationalities, strongly believe that genuine federalism and real provincial autonomy can only be achieved by honoring the following demands:

10 www.citizenswire.com Pakistan needs a new social contract between the A Constitutional federation and the provinces. The 1973 Constitution could work for interim period leading towards a new Court should be constitution based on the spirit of 1940 Resolution established at and best inclusive federal practices through a new elected constituent assembly. A new constitution the federal level produced by this assembly will work as a new social to protect the contract among the people and the federation. integrity of the The 18th Constitutional Amendment should be fully new constitution implemented in letter and spirit. and adjudicate A Constitutional Court should be established at the over inter- federal level to protect the integrity of the new provincial/federal constitution and adjudicate over inter- provincial/federal relations. relations.

The military should have no role or stake in politics and public life. The size of the armed forces should be reduced and the armed forces should have equal representation from all the respective provinces.

Pakistan's defense budget is not transparently made and spent and should be put before the upper and lower houses of parliament for open discussion and final approval from all four provincial assemblies.

The Federally Administered Tribal Areas and Federally Administered Northern Areas should become part of Khyber Pashtunkhwa.

Pakistan has become a structurally imbalanced federation after the separation of East Pakistan. One province dominates all the state institutions and enjoys an absolute majority in the parliament over the other three provinces. This concentration of power in the executive branch has emerged as a major source of conflict in Pakistan. The viable solution could be to empower the Senate, ensuring that the provinces have equal numerical representation and relative influence. - Senators should be directly elected. - The Senate must have the power to pass or veto budget, defense and monetary bills as well as to approve treaties with foreign states. - All federal appointments must be confirmed by Senate committees – including Supreme Court judges, the chief election commissioner, members and chairman of federal public service commissions, ambassadors, heads of autonomous bodies and corporations, governors, and the chiefs of the armed forces. - Citizens of one province should not have the constitutional right to become members of Senate from other provinces because the Senate is essentially a territorial chamber of parliament.

The unfinished agenda of land reforms must be completed with special reference to distribution of army lands to poor tenants and women.

11 www.citizenswire.com All the indigenous languages of Pakistan - Punjabi, Sindhi, Pashto, Balochi, Seraiki, Hindko and others - should be given the status of national languages. - Urdu and English should remain the official languages of inter-provincial communication. - Provincial governments should be able to devise and implement education and language policies according to their own preferences.

The present arrangement whereby the National Finance Commission award is distributed mainly on the basis of population should be reformed in 8th NFC Award. The allocation of NFC awards should be instead decided through an index of the following mix criteria: 1. Population 2. Revenue generation capacity 3. Disparities in development as measured by the Human Development Index (HDI), inequality (GINI coefficient), and incidence of poverty in the provinces 4. Level of per capita income in comparison to the other provinces

Water has become a key All the indigenous source of conflict in Pakistan. Sindh is the lower riparian of River Indus and all languages of Pakistan - its tributaries. The constitution of Punjabi, Sindhi, Pashto, Pakistan and international law confer Balochi, Seraiki, Hindko and inalienable rights to the lower riparian. Sindh along with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa others - should be and Balochistan have opposed further given the status of national cuts on the Indus River and its languages. tributaries by way of dams, canals and barrages that divert water without the -Urdu and English should consent of the lower riparian areas. All remain the official controversial mega projects such as languages of inter-provincial large dams and canals to be built upstream on the Indus River should be communication. shelved. -Provincial governments should be able to devise Equitable distribution of irrigation water among all provinces should be and implement instituted. At present, Punjab forcibly education and language appropriates major and policies according to their disproportionate share according to the formula of 1994, while own preferences. ignoring the 1991 Water Accord and the 1945 Agreement negotiated at the time of British Raj.

[Jami Chandio is an independent researcher, scholar and activist; he is executive director of the Center for Peace and Civil Society, a think tank based in Sindh.]

12 www.citizenswire.com Quest for Federalism—Perspectives from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

Dr. Khadim Hussain

The demand for a genuine Federal Democratic Republic of Pakistan in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is as old as Pakistan itself. Initially, it was the Khudai Khidmatgar Movement and its various offshoots that struggled hard in the colonial era to win the status of a separate province with the right of adult franchise. The struggle that was started for an autonomous province in the early 1920s culminated in the 1930s, as a result of which North West Frontier Province was made a separate province under the colonial constitutional framework of 1935. A separate NWFP Assembly was formed after the elections held in 1937 in united India.

After the inception of Pakistan, democratic secular nationalist entities from the then NWFP like Khudai Khidmatgar, and Balochistan, Sindh, the then Bengal and some leftists from Punjab formed Pakistan People's Party (PPP) and later National Awami Party (NAP) in the 1950s. NAP initiated its struggle in all parts of Pakistan on a three point agenda - separation of state and religion, provincial autonomy and an independent foreign policy. NAP started a mass movement across Pakistan, especially in NWFP, after General Ayub Khan imposed martial law and formed the notorious One Unit to enact so-called parity between the Eastern and Western wings of Pakistan. The movement was later joined by the provincial chapters of PPP, Jamiat Ulema Islam and Jamiat Ulema Pakistan.

In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the movement for autonomy of the provincial units of the federation for the political development of a genuine federal parliamentary democracy in Pakistan historically revolved around three major sets of grievances. Besides the long struggle for identity, first and foremast on the agenda of the movement for autonomy and genuine federal democracy remained in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to be the issue of ownership and distribution of natural resources. Though not limited to water, the grievance over water gained prominence after hydroelectric power generation and irrigation channels from the water owned by Khyber Pakhtunkhwa legally, technically and traditionally were used by the center for Punjab without consent of and due compensation to the province. Other resources that the people of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa historically agitated and protested for include natural gas, cess on tobacco grown in the province, precious stones, minerals, forestry and tourism.

The second set of grievances pertains to the economy including unequal development and investment in trade and commerce, infrastructure for trade and commerce, unequal development of industry and market, agriculture, fishery and poultry. The third set of issues that became the source of long lasting demands in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa includes public policy and governance. This was assumed to be the direct consequence of the deprivations mentioned in the first and second sets of grievances. This was thought to be the result of the centralized mindset of state institutions. Denial of justice, lack of the rule of law, bureaucratic hegemony, non-responsiveness of state institutions, and lack of basic facilities like sewerage, clean drinking water, due share in taxes and revenues continue to breed negative attitude for political, institutional and capitalist elite of Pakistan among the people of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

13 www.citizenswire.com Devolution of certain The landmark 18th Constitutional Amendment institutions is being passed and enacted in April 2010 not only resolved the issue of identity but also mitigated the grievance of resisted by sections resource distribution in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to some of the political, extent. Abolition of Concurrent List altogether and military and bringing of the Federal Legislative List II in the purview bureaucratic elite of the Council of Common Interests might have resolved most of the outstanding issues between with lame excuses Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the center in principle but and invalid arguments. there are still three irritants that continue agitating it.

Firstly, the issue of centralization of governance and distribution of power by the center has continuously put the relations between Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the center in jeopardy. The Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA) based in Lahore and managed by Islamabad is considered not only hegemonic but also a stumbling block in fulfilling the energy needs of the people of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Secondly, there is a fear that devolution of certain institutions is being resisted by sections of the political, military and bureaucratic elite with lame excuses and invalid arguments. Resistance to allow devolution of Higher Education Commission to the provinces is just one example that nourishes the fears of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The resurrection of the federal ministries of education and health with alternative pseudonyms after the Pakistan Muslim League-N government was elected to power in Islamabad in 2013 strengthens the fear of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa that powerful sections of political, military and bureaucratic elite in Islamabad and Punjab are not sincere in realizing the dream of a genuine federal parliamentary democracy in Pakistan. As if this were not enough, the statement of the Federal Minister for Petroleum indicating review of the Article 158 of the Constitution of Pakistan is akin to putting salt to injuries. This Article had established the first right on the use of natural gas and petroleum by the province where it is produced.

Thirdly, there is a strong demand by the people of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa that 50% ownership of resources ensured in the 18th Amendment must be constitutionally converted to full ownership of resources while share of the cost for administration of state and distribution of resources may be worked out in the Council of Common Interests and National Finance Commission.

The third set of grievances mentioned above may be considered as domain of provincial governments exclusively after the 18th Amendment and 7th NFC Award. Responsibility for governance, law and order, education, health, socio-cultural development, women's development, youth affairs, agriculture, tourism and local government must be taken up by the provincial government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Abdication of this responsibility by the provincial government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa will be deemed as complicity in revoking autonomy and decentralization. The civil society, academia, professional organizations, media and research organizations have to network to take forward the true spirit of federal parliamentary democracy in Pakistan.

[Dr Khadim Hussain is a political analyst based in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Email: [email protected] Twitter/@khadimhussain4)

14 www.citizenswire.com Balochistan Versus the Federation

Shahzada Zulfiqar

Balochistan has remained in conflict with the center since Pakistan's inception in 1947, with Baloch nationalist forces protesting the Punjab-dominated establishment for having been treated unfairly and not granted due authority and autonomy. The resultant trust deficit, between the federation and its federating units, has caused uncertainty among the people of Balochistan who have on occasion taken up arms against the state.

Balochistan joined Pakistan involuntarily in March 28, 1948 under an agreement reached between Mohammad Ali Jinnah and Khan Ahmad Yar Khan, the then ruler of the princely state of Kalat (which was the principal seat of modern Balochistan except northern Pashtun areas). Both the upper and lower houses of the State of Kalat rejected annexation by the newly created state of Pakistan instead demanding independence.

Under the instrument of annexation, maximum autonomy was guaranteed, granting all subjects to the princely state except currency, defense and foreign affairs. The quantum of autonomy can be gauged from the fact that it was promised that if the state of Pakistan needs land for any purpose within its boundaries, it will seek formal permission from the Kalat State Authorities. However, maximum autonomy has remained a dream for the Baloch which because of the deceiving character of Pakistani rulers, is yet to be realized.

Within months of being signed, the agreement was thrown in the proverbial trash can and the people of Balochistan were dealt with military might. This forced Prince Abdul Karim, the younger brother of the last ruler of Kalat to take up arms in May 1948 against Pakistan along with 300 companions. After five months Prince Karim and his armed men were arrested and put in jail for a number of years. Nawab Nauroz Khan Zarakzai also took up arms when the Khan of Kalat Mir Ahmedyar was arrested for gathering a lashkar (armed group) for revolt against the Pakistani state. Within a year he was brought down from the mountains under the oath of the Holy Quran, promised amnesty, but was later charged with treason. His two sons and three relatives were hanged while he died in captivity.

Later an armed group led by Sher Mohammad Marri popularly known as 'General Sherov' went to the mountains in 1963 against the One Unit policy and new military bases in Balochistan. And that insurgency continued till 1969. In 1973, Baloch people including hundreds of tribesmen, mainly Marri and Mengal, revolted against the dismissal of the Sardar Attaullah Mengal-led government and the jailing of Baloch leadership in what is known as the Hyderabad Conspiracy Case. The insurgency ended after General Zia-ul-Haq seized power and announced general amnesty after releasing all National Awami Party leaders and Baloch leadership. The ongoing insurgency started in 2000 when separatist leader Nawab Khair Bakhsh Marri was arrested and charged with the murder of a high court judge.

15 www.citizenswire.com Natural gas was The people of Balochistan in general and the Baloch in particular refuse to accept Pakistan as a true discovered in federation and see it as form of government 1952 from the dominated by one province - Punjab. Punjab Sui town of perceiving a threat from the domination of Bengalis on the basis of population, introduced the One Unit Dera Bugti and its scheme in 1954 ostensibly to bring 'parity' between supply to Sindh the country's eastern and western wings. However, after getting rid of Bengalis in 1971 – when East and Punjab Pakistan seceded to become independent started only one Bangladesh – it has been dominating the smaller year later provinces on the basis of its brute majority. spreading all over Balochistan has always been ruled by the military the country - except establishment even in the presence of elected provincial and federal governments. During the rule of Balochistan. the previous Pakistan People's Party governments in It was supplied to the center and in Balochistan, the administrations the people of were unaware of military actions and any special "political arrangement" of intelligence agencies in the Dera Bugti and troubled districts of the province. The same situation Sui and provincial exists today when a Baloch nationalist party is leading capital of Quetta a ruling coalition. Military action and the forced disappearances of Baloch youth continue relentlessly in the 1980s. despite hue and cry by Chief Minister Dr Malik Baloch, a middle class politician.

Natural gas was discovered in 1952 from the Sui town of Dera Bugti and its supply to Sindh and Punjab started only one year later spreading all over the country - except Balochistan. It was supplied to the people of Dera Bugti and Sui and provincial capital of Quetta in the 1980s. Even today, people living on the periphery of the gas producing town of Sui and 80% of the population of the province are deprived of natural gas while large parts of the rest of Pakistan enjoy it. The provincial governments have even been unaware of the number of units produced per day from Sui and its revenue.

However, Nawab Akbar Bugti, the former provincial chief minister (1989-90) during his tenure managed to obtain some facts and figures about gas and the arrears of Rs600 billion, the federal government owed the province. In the labor cadre of gas companies, 80% are locals from Dera Bugti while the ratio of local or the people of Balochistan in the management cadre is negligible. Bugti tribesmen started damaging gas pipelines in 2004 when the company management refused to regularize the casual labor working in gas companies for the last ten years.

Nawab Bugti became hostile towards the federal government after the failure of his talks through then Governor Balochistan Lt Gen (R) Qadir Baloch over regularization of his Bugti casual workers. There was also vast disparity in the prices of gas being produced from Balochistan and Sindh/Punjab, but this gap was narrowed to some extent during the Musharraf regime. However it was later rationalized by PPP government besides promising Rs120 billion gas arrears to Balochistan.

16 www.citizenswire.com Balochistan does not appear anywhere in the federation like on the list of Federal Public Sector Development Shift from 100% Program, in services quota in federal departments, population corporations, autonomous and semi-autonomous bodies and in foreign service (political appointments). It receives criteria to 82% not more than Rs30 to Rs40 million annually out of the total for resource Rs50 billion National Highway Authority annual budget for development activities for national highways despite the distribution by fact 38% of highways pass through Balochistan. Till 1999, accommodating then Chief Minister Jan Mohammad Jamali would say, on other factors like record, that he has to visit Islamabad every month to get the salaries of government employees of the province. poverty, area Though belated, a positive step was taken by the PPP and revenue government to meet the long standing demands of smaller provinces for provincial autonomy through the 18th collection and Constitutional Amendment. The Concurrent List has been generation is abolished and 50% share of the provinces in their own expected to natural resources is now guaranteed. Similarly, shift from 100% population criteria to 82% for resource distribution by benefit accommodating other factors like poverty, area and Balochistan. revenue collection and generation is expected to benefit Balochistan. These steps have been welcomed by almost all political parties by terming them as a major breakthrough in the struggle of smaller provinces. However they are skeptical about the implementation of these measures in letter and spirit.

Such steps may help win over the common Baloch but not the Baloch youth who have been drifting fast towards separatism. The PML-N government has embarked upon a plan of initiating development activities by making the Gwadar Port operational through Chinese companies and setting up a 6,600 MW power Balochistan does not generation project at Gadani without addressing the basic appear anywhere in issues of missing persons, recovery of their dead bodies the federation like on and military operations. The Gwadar Port has been handed the list of Federal over to the Chinese without specifying provincial share or Public Sector benefits. The Baloch claim to have been turned into a Development minority on their own soil after the influx of people in the Program, in services millions from other provinces. quota in federal Not just the Baloch population but other ethnic groups of the departments, province also believe that mega development projects are corporations, not aimed at the development of the local people or autonomous and Balochistan but the development needs of Pakistan or semi-autonomous specifically the Punjab. They argue that when the federal bodies and in foreign government could not build a national highway in service (political Balochistan from their provincial share for the benefit of the appointments). local people, how can it develop mega projects for their benefit?

[Shahzada Zulfikar is a Quetta-based journalist]

17 www.citizenswire.com How to Democratize Governance of Islamabad?

Zafarullah Khan

Capital cities, in federally organized countries, are often viewed as symbols of a nation's pride and epitomize national diversity. They serve as seat of national government and hosts to a variety of national institutions and foreign embassies. In this way, capital cities take on special political, administrative and symbolic cultural roles that differ from other cities in the country. At the same time, capitals are cities in which people live, consume local services, and participate in political activities.

There are two Islamabads. One that is often viewed as the 'centralized and controlling' capital of the federation and a second, 'a callous and uncaring' city, for its two million- plus inhabitants. People living outside Islamabad know only the first one and regard it as a highly developed island of prosperity at the expense of hard earned resources of the federating units. What they fail to acknowledge is that this part of Islamabad has only temporary residents - a few thousand graded bureaucrats and time-bound elected rulers and representatives with a 'control-from-the-top' mindset. Some call it a virus for which the only cure is 'cooperative federalism.' If you want to go a step further to treat the pathology of centralism, 'federalize' each and every institution that exists to serve the federation of Pakistan. The controlling DNA of Islamabad will thus gradually be mutated.

The real crisis exists in the second, less discussed Islamabad. A city without accountable local government, no share in the National Finance Commission, no representation in the Council of Common Interests and unable to get a drop under the Water Accord. A city having no right over GST (general sales tax) on services - a local- bound revenue source. In this way, the ordinary residents are no more than 'de-graded' citizens whose legitimate rights are deliberately denied to protect and perpetuate the controlling character of colonial Islamabad.

Capital cities, in As the federal capital, Islamabad is the seat of Pakistani democracy but its own governance is marred by many federally anomalies. It has three executive streams, either with organized duplicating or overlapping mandates. The Capital countries, are Development Authority (CDA) and Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) Administration work on urban and rural basis often viewed as respectively to develop the city. Capital Administration and symbols of a Development Division (CADD) was created for taking care of nation's pride devolved subjects for the residents of Islamabad during the implementation phase of the 18th Constitutional and epitomize Amendment. Now CADD has been made part of the Cabinet national diversity. Division. There is Capital Territory Police working under the Interior Ministry.

Interestingly both CDA and CADD work under the Cabinet Division headed by the prime minister, while the ICT administration and Capital Territory Police are operationally linked to the Interior Ministry. Many of these institutions, instead of cooperating and

18 www.citizenswire.com communicating with each other to provide better services As the federal to the city's residents often indulge in wars over turf and territory. The CDA has the land while the ICT capital, Administration enjoys unique executive authority. Islamabad is the Unfortunately, there is no political or executive effort to harmonize the role and responsibilities of these multiple seat of Pakistani duty bearers. democracy but The federal capital has its own courts since 1981 when it its own was given the status of a district. After the 18th Amendment, it has a full-fledged Islamabad High Court. governance is While the 18th Amendment has strengthened the judicial marred by many and executive branches in Islamabad, the legislative branch is totally missing. anomalies.

There are two members elected from Islamabad to the National Assembly and four Senators to the Senate of Pakistan. Many of those elected are not permanent residents of the city. Over a dozen other senators and members of National Assembly (MNAs) elected on reserved seats also permanently live and work in Islamabad. In this way, the city has the highest per capita parliamentary population.

The constitution is silent on who will implement Article 140-A in Islamabad. This Article empowers the provinces to create local government. It appears that the nation's seat of democracy will always remain without representative local governance which is touted as the best governance structure for effective service delivery. A new hope has emerged after the Islamabad High Court and the Supreme Court of Pakistan's directions to hold local government elections in Islamabad. The 'colonial' part of Islamabad is resisting allowing the local tier where most of the citizens consume governance. This militates against the spirit of equality of citizenship.

Presently the federal parliament legislates for Islamabad. Is this representative, or merely an ad hoc administrative measure? Perhaps not. Firstly, it is expensive to consume the time and energy of 446 federal legislators. Secondly, it appears to be undemocratic, because even if all six legislators from Islamabad (two MNAs and four Senators) oppose a piece of legislation about the city, it can still be passed. According to latest estimates, Islamabad has a population of 2 million while the population of Gilgit- Baltistan (GB) is just one million and they have their own autonomous legislative assembly. Similarly Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) with a population of 4.5 million has its own assembly. Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) has more than 3 million people and sends 12 MNAs and eight Senators. Islamabad also deserves its own autonomous legislative assembly and a representative local government system.

In the present governance arrangement, there is nobody to plead the case of Islamabad in the CCI, National Economic Council and for share in the National Finance Commission. The city also does not have a share of water in Water Accord of 1991. In one of the meetings of the CCI none of the provinces was willing to consider the demand of a share in water for Islamabad. Therefore, the city has to buy water from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa from the Khanpur Dam to meet its water needs in future and not to become a modern Fatehpur Sikri due to water scarcity. Similarly, the current arrangement is silent about control and share in natural resources. For instance, if oil

19 www.citizenswire.com and gas is discovered in the Margalla Hills, the status of Time has arrived ownership would remain unclear. Similarly, the Federal to rethink and Board of Revenue has no separate account for the GST on services collected in Islamabad. Therefore, much of the democratize the GST earned here is not used here. governance of In the absence of representative and accountable the federal governance Islamabad, the sole planned city in Pakistan, capital to offer is experiencing unprecedented growth of slums and fake housing societies. The CDA has opted for zero compliance all fundamental on Pakistan Environmental Protection Agency bylaws and rights to its two environmental impact assessment obligations. There is no proper waste disposal management for this rapidly million residents, growing city. Many of its residential sectors have been including the sandwiched between the industrial zones posing risk to the health of citizens. Education is the only sector of right to be Islamabad that boasts better standards than the rest of the governed country. But here again the problem of multiple education systems exists. The colleges of Islamabad were affiliated democratically. with the Quaid-i-Azam University only in 2011. Earlier, the students or their parents had to travel to Lahore for their minor problems.

More importantly the residents of Islamabad have no share in the constitutionally commanded quota system (Article 27). Islamabad's share is clubbed in the quota of Punjab. But when it comes to applying for recruitments through the Punjab Public Service Commission, the domicile of Islamabad is simply not entertained.

Many mockingly describe Islamabad as a city “10km from Pakistan” referring to the inequalities between the capital and the rest of the country. However, the rural areas of Islamabad present a reality much different from its urban areas. Good sports facilities exist in every part of the city but remain nonexistence in the rural areas. Similar inequality exists in terms of the provision of services, like education and healthcare.

Perhaps the time has arrived to rethink and democratize the governance of the federal capital to offer all fundamental rights to its two million residents, including the right to be governed democratically. At the same time, efforts should be made to federalize the outlook of the nation's capital and make it truly reflective of regional diversities. Presently, there is only one Pakistan Monument whose architecture represents the four provinces (federating units) and three territories.

Islamabad will certainly prosper as a vibrant city but this is only possible if both souls of this capital city are represented.

[Zafarullah Khan is Islamabad based researcher and civic educator and work as Executive Director of Centre for Civic Education Pakistan]

20 www.citizenswire.com Understanding Planning Imperatives After The 18th Amendment

Dr Pervez Tahir

The Planning Commission (PC) has recently announced its intention to prepare two documents - Vision 2025 and the 11th Five Year Plan. Plans have also been announced to strengthen the organization by increasing the number of members from the already large number of 9 to 12. With the devolution of a large number of subjects to the provinces since the 18th Constitutional Amendment, the deletion of the subject of national planning from the exclusive domain of the federal government, and the placing of the National Economic Council (NEC) in the list of subjects mandated to be the joint responsibility of the federal government and the provincial governments, these moves raise fears of recentralization and reopening of settled issues.

On their part, the provinces have not helped matters by neglecting the enhancement of their capacity to plan and implement, mobilize greater provincial resources and the effective and judicious utilization of a higher share of resources made available by the 7th National Finance Commission Award. Centralized planning was an important factor in the partition of the country in 1971. In this regard, federal activism and provincial inaction does not augur well for national cohesion.

Do we need a centralized Planning Commission? After the 18th Amendment, the PC can no more be a Planning in the centralized body. Federal Legislative List, Part I, contains post-18th subjects which lie in the exclusive jurisdiction of the federal Amendment government. Before the 18th Amendment, item 32 of this related to planning – “National planning and national period economic coordination including planning and coordination has to be of scientific and technological research.” After the Amendment, the subject was included in the Federal federalized Legislative List, Part II. Subjects in Part II are neither rather than exclusively federal nor provincial – they are areas of joint responsibility. centralized.

In the constitution, a special institution, the Council of Common Interests (CCI), has been created to supervise the affairs of the federation listed in Part II. Article 154 (1) states: “The Council shall formulate and regulate policies in relation to matters in Part II of the Federal Legislative List and shall exercise supervision and control over related institutions.”

With the subject of planning falling in Part I, before the 18th Amendment, the CCI could not “exercise supervision and control over related institutions”, which are the NEC and the PC. The institution of NEC had existed before the adoption of a new, federal constitution in 1973. It was the highest decision making body concerned with the economy and development planning. An authoritarian president headed the NEC as well as the PC.

The latter was a powerful organization charged with the responsibility of preparing

21 www.citizenswire.com centrally controlled plans and the former was While the apex planning the approval forum for these plans. Provinces body NEC has been were represented on the NEC as well as the PC. After 1973, planning and PC continued to be federalized, the PC centralized, although the plans were focused continues to be mainly on the public sector and planning for the centralized. The spirit of private sector became indicative. This has radically changed after the 18th Amendment. the constitution can be Centralized planning and PC are against the satisfied by (1) making spirit of the constitution. PC, in place of the Federalizing planning Cabinet Division, the Planning in the post-18th Amendment period has to be federalized rather than centralized. secretariat of the NEC The Amendment has redefined the NEC on the and (2) by reducing the pattern of CCI. The NEC forms part of the number of its members Chapter 3 of the constitution entitled Special Provisions. Before 18th Amendment, Article to five, one each from 156 related to the NEC had two clauses. Clause the provinces and the (1) described the composition and the Clause (2) its functions. These clauses have federal government. undergone important changes after the 18th The prime minister Amendment. The pre-Amendment Clause (1) chairs the NEC and read as follows: “The President shall constitute a National Economic Council consisting of the there is no need for Prime Minister, who shall be its Chairman, and him to chair the PC. such other members as the President may determine: Provided that the President shall The chairman should nominate one member from each Province on be appointed by the the recommendation of the Government of that CCI to represent the Province.” federation. The size and composition was left to the discretion of the prime minister and the provincial governments. In 2005, for instance, the federal government had 25 ministers as members in addition to the prime minister as chairman. Each province was allowed four members including the chief minister. In all, there were 42 members. In addition, there was a long list of special invitees. Clause (1) has now been made tighter:

“The President shall constitute a National Economic Council which shall consist of – (a) The Prime Minister, who shall be the Chairman of the Council; (b) The Chief Ministers and one member from each Province to be nominated by the Chief Minister; and (c) Four other members as the Prime Minister may nominate from time to time.”

There is a significantly reduced strength fixed at 13 members. Unlike the past, the provinces have a majority with eight members against five from the federal government,

22 www.citizenswire.com including of course the prime minister as chairman. An important reason

While the apex planning body NEC has been why the centralized role federalized, the PC continues to be centralized. of planning and the PC The spirit of the constitution can be satisfied by continues, is the (1) making PC, in place of the Cabinet Division, the secretariat of the NEC and (2) by reducing the weak capacity of the number of its members to five, one each from the provincial planning provinces and the federal government. The prime minister chairs the NEC and there is no need for mechanisms. The him to chair the PC. The chairman should be devolution under the appointed by the CCI to represent the federation. 18th Amendment PIDE as a think tank of the federal government has overwhelmed them The Pakistan Institute of Development Economics is now a university under the with the large segments administrative control of the Planning and of education and health Development Division. With PC moving to the left with the federal CCI/NEC, the Planning and Development Division can continue to deal with the government development issues of the Federal Legislative highlighting this point. List, Part I. PIDE can play the role of a think-tank for the Planning and Development Division.

Restructuring the planning mechanisms in the provinces At present, only Punjab has a Planning and Development Board, with members in charge of the main sectors. Other provinces have their respective Planning and Development Departments. An important reason why the centralized role of planning and the PC continues, is the weak capacity of the provincial planning mechanisms. The devolution under the 18th Amendment has overwhelmed them with the large segments of education and health left with the federal government highlighting this point. The message of the 18th Amendment is that the provinces should take charge of their own planning and development. This needs de-bureaucratization and appropriate investment in human capital.

[Dr Pervez Tahir is a renowned Pakistani economist and has served as the chief economist with the Planning Commission]

23 www.citizenswire.com Technology in Realizing Promise of Right to Information (RTI)

Mohsin Aziz

Right to Information (RTI) legislation at the federal as well as provincial levels is a step in the right direction for growing transparency, creating a responsible government and increasing citizen level engagement. However, certain roadblocks can seriously limit its potential as a piece of transformative legislation.

The resistance to disclose information is so entrenched in the culture of government organizations that it can in itself act as a deterrent to RTI requests. On the flip side, ordinary citizens are likely to view RTI with a high degree of skepticism and this can lead to the failure of the RTI legislation framework to achieve desired results.

There is a need to take proactive actions to ensure that civilian interaction with RTI channels is pleasant. The system to receive, track and complete civilian RTI requests is the starting point of this interaction, and it needs to be highly user friendly, efficient and readily available. The RTI channels should be technology-based since this is the most effective option for any program to scale up to a national level and cut across different demographic segments.

Furthermore, the high mobile phone density in Pakistan coupled with easy access to broadband makes investment in information technology (IT) based solutions a natural choice. The recommended use of technology in this context is not about deploying computers and connecting government offices. It is more about the ease with which RTI requests can be captured and tracked and about how the Information Officer's responsiveness can be monitored.

Free and open source software (FOSS) now provide many pre-built software solutions that can be customized fairly easily to meet the needs of the RTI request tracking

24 www.citizenswire.com system. Enterprise Help ticketing systems are one such example of a possible software solution that can be considered. Some customization will be required to add support for local languages but there is definitely no need to reinvent the wheel. Technology solutions will not only facilitate RTI requests but will also enable designated information officers to fulfill requests within the stipulated timeframe.

Another important aspect of implementing RTI legislation is to ensure that public records are accurately maintained at all levels across different government and semi government institutions. Unless these records are maintained meticulously in a way that allows timely and easy retrieval, it will not be possible for even well-meaning government functionaries and designated information officers to fulfill information requests of common citizens.

Presently government records in the secretariats are not being properly maintained. The outdated paper based filing system is becoming inefficient due to an increase in the volume of paperwork. In addition, government offices are running out of physical space for storing official files. Additionally, we cannot deny that there are certain cases in which some files disappear/re-appear or are destroyed in accidents like fire owing to external influences or incentives.

Granted that IT is not the silver bullet that will solve all problems, it is a viable solution, worth consideration. Owing to the consistent decrease in the cost of technical solutions and the many ways in which the knowledge economy is forging new relationships between the general public and the government, it makes sense for government offices to go digital.

There are two aspects to going digital in the context of maintaining public records. Firstly, an ambitious undertaking can be to aggressively pursue the path of e- governance which basically means that all of the information created, modified, exchanged and stored in government organizations should be digital in nature. Any paper version of a file should be a mere copy of the digital master record. This is an ideal solution which will not only address the issue of maintaining official records but it can also fundamentally transform the nature of government secretariats.

Secondly, the ease and speed with which digital information flows will cut through the proverbial red tape, improve government efficiency and enable government bodies to process greater volume of work in less time. Moreover, new more collaborative ways of policymaking will emerge which will be more fact based and result oriented. Execution focus will also improve and the whole system will become more transparent.

This is an ideal scenario but owing to the fundamental ways in which the government's work will need to be transformed in order to make this system functional, it is admittedly almost beyond our immediate reach. Process re-engineering of this scale is unprecedented even in large enterprises. A realistic option is to employ an incremental process to work towards this ideal scenario.

Below, I am sharing few ideas on how to handle this transformation piecemeal and will highlight the significance of these different building blocks.

25 www.citizenswire.com We have already talked about the need of the RTI request management system, which is a natural starting point on this journey. Making this system available over mobile phone platforms can be the next step. Although smart phones and other mobile devices are only used by a comparatively smaller section of our population, what makes it promising is the direction in which technology is developing. Another, somewhat overlooked aspect of mobile technologies is their robustness and ease of use. Generally no special skills or training is required to use mobile devices. Furthermore, as compared to computers, mobiles usage is common even in the segments of society which are not technology savvy.

Replacing complete paper based files with digital versions may be too ambitious but replacing the file 'receipt' and 'dispatch' registers with online system is fairly easy. The currently used paper based register system, if followed properly, provides a complete trail of the movement of a file from one desk to another within and across government departments. The limitations of this system come from the fact that manual systems do not lend themselves well to ad-hoc searches. Searching through these registers to follow a trail is prohibitively time consuming and error prone. A digital system can make this effortless and records can be more easily traced.

Even before the whole process is completely automated, just digitally storing official records at the archival stage can improve things significantly. Archives department is usually responsible for safekeeping of official records at the completion of a file's life cycle. It is easier to scan and store a file digitally at this stage because it does not interfere with day-to-day workings of different offices. This system is valuable because retrieval is a lot simpler and efficient. Sophisticated document storage solutions offers implementation of governance rules like how long a specific type of records needs to be maintained and who has the authorization to access, update or purge the record. Most solutions comply with stringent audit trails to ensure all activities are tracked and recorded.

In doing all of this, our focus needs to be on local capacity development instead of purchasing software solutions from large global firms. We should invest in building software solutions on free and open source platforms that in many cases are getting ahead of the commercial offerings in ingenuity, performance and support. Almost all extra-large scale and highly responsive web based systems like Facebook, Linked-in, Twitter and Amazon use free and open source technologies.

Similarly, investment in cloud hosting infrastructure will not only lay the foundation for implementation of a large scale e-government solution, it can also add to the local economy by enabling business to leverage such a platform. This capacity development can be achieved either by engaging our local IT industry or by setting up a state enterprise. China, Singapore and locally National Database Registration Authority (NADRA) are great examples of successful execution of the state enterprise model, which lends credibility to the hypothesis that such a system can actually be built and successfully maintained in Pakistan.

[Mohsin Aziz is vice president of professional services at Xavor Corporation - a global technology and management consultancy firm and member Board of Directors, Centre for Civic Education Pakistan]

26 www.citizenswire.com Sindh Local Government Act 2013: A Perspective

Naseer Memon

It was only after the intervention of the Supreme Court of Pakistan that hopes for the revival of local governments (LGs) have been rekindled. By the end of 2013 three provinces had completed legislation on LG laws while Khyber Pakhtunkhwa was working on it.

With a wide margin of socio-political diversity, each province is applying its own priorities and realities to frame this vital legislative piece. Sindh has an entirely different political vista where legislation on any kind of power or resource sharing is like walking on a tight rope. Recently, Sindh had been oscillating between the local government law of 1979 and 2001. In a bid to keep power-partners sedate, the ruling Pakistan People's Party government introduced the Sindh Peoples' Local Government Act, 2013, that turned Sindh into a tinderbox and the law was countermanded subsequently, leaving behind a trail of ignominy for PPP. The law and the legislation process exposed incompetence and lack of political prudence within the ruling party ranks.

After emerging triumphant in the 2013 elections in Sindh and partnering of Muttahida Qaumi Movement with Pakistan Muslim League-N, the PPP government in Sindh embarked upon the new law to mollify its enraged constituency. Since General Musharraf's LGO 2001 was much resented in Sindh and its replicas in 2011 and 2013 met intense public ire, the only option left was to supplant the law of 1979 with some new features. In fact Musharraf's LGO 2001 was rabidly opposed by Sindhis in the province. Sindhi leadership, including the PPP, considered it as a precursor of administrative division of Sindh that effectively converted Karachi into a semi-autonomous unit rendering provincial government a mere spectator in the affairs of its capital city. Whereas Sindhis are not fond of the 1979 law, they loath the 2001 law as well. The

27 www.citizenswire.com SLGA 2013 however recently adopted SLGA 2013 was conceived and showered immense developed in the aforementioned context. disappointment by The legislation process of SLGA 2013 despite the curtailing women's paucity of time was unusually democratic and consultative. The Ministry of Law and Parliamentary representation. Affairs approached all parties in the House, leading The PPP possesses nationalist parties, writers, intellectuals and civil a cherished history society organizations to elicit their views and of bestowing political recommendations. empowerment to The new SLGA confines the local government's women through functions largely to basic municipal services and retains provincial subjects with the provincial pro-women legislation government. This is a key point of departure from and administrative SLGO 2001 that devolved key departments to district measures. governments. Subjects like security, police and land management had been a source of consternation. Land, particularly in urban areas is among the key sources of conflict. Similarly, the police has already been much politicized and has been grossly misused as a tool of control and oppression by those in power. Considering the social and ethnic fabric of Sindh, there was a demand that revenue and the police should not be made subordinate to Local Governments in order to ensure its impartiality.

Both SLGO 2011 and SPLGA 2013 accorded Karachi Metropolitan Corporation an exclusive domain in some of the subjects which disturbed the equilibrium of authority across the metropolitan corporations in the province that received opprobrium from people of Sindh. Whereas Karachi has its peculiarities as the capital and the largest city of the province, it has a political dimension as well, which is distinct from largest cities/capitals in other provinces.

Other provincial capitals are not dominated by ethnic groups who dictate their terms by force. Any legislation or administrative array in Sindh cannot be oblivious to this reality. SLGA 2013 has addressed anomalies of the earlier laws by restoring district level councils in Karachi. It provides representation to union committees through directly elected chairmen and vice chairmen that would inculcate a sense of greater participation to all residents of Karachi irrespective of their identity and political affiliation. This will also mainstream under-developed rural areas of Karachi that were subsumed in urban towns in 2001 leaving them starved of funds.

In contrast with other provinces, urban-rural divide in Sindh has ethnic contours. The demographic distortion induced in Sindh at the time of partition continues to spook polity in Sindh. Striking political and developmental harmony in Sindh requires equal consideration for both urban and rural areas rather than painting both with the same brush. Rhetoric of merging urban and rural areas meets thorny resistance in Sindh due to its demographic complexion.

SLGA 2013 however showered immense disappointment by curtailing women's representation. The PPP possesses a cherished history of bestowing political

28 www.citizenswire.com empowerment to women through pro-women legislation and administrative measures. However the new law has Fiscal devolution curtailed the share of women on reserved seats to less is the lynchpin of than 10% in union committees and union council and 22% in other councils. Except on union council/union the local committees, women will be indirectly elected by the government councils. Non-Muslims and laborer/peasants categories system. The new have been allocated 5% seats in each council except in union council/union committees where both categories will law envisages a have one representative in the house of nine members. provincial finance commission in the Save for union committees and union councils, representation of women, non-Muslims, laborer/peasants province. in district municipal corporations, metropolitan The principles of corporation, district council, municipal corporations, finance award municipal committees, municipal committees and town committees has been provided through indirect elections. include population, It is a proven fact that indirect elections are often marred by backwardness, nepotism and favoritism which renders representation of need and these segments of society practically ineffective. Upholding its legacy, PPP government was the first one to performance of a announce LG elections on party basis. This is widely council. welcomed by all stakeholders in the province and elsewhere.

Fiscal devolution is lynchpin of the local government system. The new law envisages a provincial finance commission in the province. The principles of finance award include population, backwardness, need and performance of a council. Considering the stark development gap in urban and rural areas it will be justified and fair that backwardness should be given at least 50% weightage to cater to the areas at the lower rung of development ladder. Human Development Index can be used to rank backwardness of all areas in the province.

A well-defined criterion for “performance of a council” should be sufficiently delineated to eschew any potential subjectivity and misinterpretation. The moribund SPLGA 2012 introduced principles and indicators like fiscal capacity, fiscal effort and fiscal performance, which had inherent tilt in favor of the big cities where economic activity can generate surplus resources. The new law also addressed this anomaly.

The new law has a progressive feature of Right to Information. Article 160 of the law makes it mandatory to furnish requisite information within seven days. It also requires quarterly public disclosure of information regarding staffing and performance of the offices of the LG. The Article however has one ambiguity that it restricts right to information with “reasonable restriction”. Rules of business ought to demystify the term “reasonable restriction” so that it is not used unreasonably.

(Naseer Memon is the chief executive of Strengthening Participatory organization, SPO: [email protected])

29 www.citizenswire.com Punjab: Issue of Democratic Decentralization

Salman Abid

The people of Pakistan are faced with numerous problems today including poverty, terrorism, corruption, and unemployment as well as issues related to education, health, urbanization and local rural and urban issues. These common national issues cannot be tackled without simultaneous action and response at the local and provincial levels. Local democracy means giving people a say in the policies and decisions that affect their lives daily at the local level.

Participatory democracy combines direct and representative democracy, while encouraging the involvement of marginalized isolated or previously ignored groups including under-represented communities and minorities. Strong and effective democratic local government is the best way of ensuring local democracy and good governance. Local government (LG) provides the good governance and leadership to enable local area to plan its development and provide services for local stakeholders- residents, community groups and others.

The process of devolution began with the 18th Constitutional Amendment under the previous government and the revival of LGs on priority would facilitate the implementation of devolution. Further, LG as the third tier of government is necessary for a strong democratic setup.

After a clear directive from the Supreme Court that Strong and provincial governments must ensure that they conduct LG effective elections by September 15, 2013. It also directed the provincial governments to complete and pass the LG laws democratic local from provincial assemblies till August 15, 2013. By end of government is 2013 all provincial assemblies had passed the law except the best way of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. ensuring local The Punjab Local Government Act (PLGA) 2013 was tabled democracy and in the provincial assembly on July 26, 2013 for approval and validation. Going through the act makes one realize it is a good nod to the local bodies law of 1979, which strengthened the governance. bureaucracy rather than elected representatives of the LGs. As a democratic practice, it is important to define the difference between LGs and local bodies. What is needed is LGs not local bodies without administrative and financial powers. Perhaps, the provincial government is only interested in establishing LGs that function as their agents and remain dependent on it.

The PLGA 2013 gives limited powers and functions to LGs. The 1979 local bodies system was created by dictator General Zia-ul-Haq to crush political parties. The citizens of the provinces were optimistic after the 18th Constitutional Amendment that now the provincial government will devolve most of its functions to the local level but through this bill, the intentions of the Punjab government towards centralization have been revealed. There is a lack of political will to devolve powers at the local level through

30 www.citizenswire.com decentralization. Therefore the PLGA 2013 is only an attempt to strengthen the centralized governance model in The PLGA 2013 the provinces rather than empowering the districts. does not address the issue of The PLGA 2013 does not address the issue of independent and self-governance based on the LG model. It does not independent and meet the benchmarks embedded in the Article 140-A of the self-governance constitution that says: “Each province shall, by law, establish a local government system and devolve political, based on the LG administrative and financial responsibility and authority to model. It does the elected representatives of the Local Government.” For example, PLGA 2013's Clause 119, Subsection 3 says that not meet the the government may, on the recommendation of the Local benchmarks Government Commission, suspend a mayor or chairman. embedded in the This is not less subversive than the infamous erstwhile Article 58-2b of the constitution under which in the past, Article 140-A of several democratically elected governments had been the constitution dissolved. Due to this clause the provincial government will have a direct control over districts.

Similarly, Section (h) of this article states that the Local Government Commission would hold periodic meetings with national and provincial legislators to ensure their participation in development activities in LG with regards to annual development plan, utilization of legislators' development grants and implementation of decision in these meetings. Similarly, Clause 102 of PLGA 2013's Subsection 3 states that the government may review approved budget of LG and if contrary to the budget rules may require the LG to rectify it.

This is like providing a window to the provincial government to intervene in the matters of the LGs and to use this window to snub their political opponents. These clause are against the spirit Article 140-A of the Constitution of Pakistan. The provincial government also didn't address the issue of constitutional protection of the LGs for the continuation of the system at the local level. Article 10 of the Charter of Democracy mentions that after assuming power the signatory parties will provide constitutional protection to the local government system.

The decision of the Punjab government to hold elections on a non-party basis also came as a great shock for the democratic forces in the country. An important agreement was made between Pakistan People's Party and Pakistan Muslim League-N through the Charter of Democracy on May 15, 2006 and pledged that LG elections will be held on a party basis. PML-N has betrayed this agreement by announcing non-party based elections and through this decision strengthened clan politics at the grassroots level.

PLGA 2013's Clause 17 mentions education and health authorities at the district level, that local representative are part of the authority, but the chairman, vice chairman and chief executive officer would be appointed by the provincial government. This is direct intervention of provincial government in LG affairs and control on the resources and powers on education and health issues. There are already several regulatory bodies and departments looking after health and education but the provincial government is

31 www.citizenswire.com insisting on creating new authorities and departments Initially the Punjab just for the sake of involving their political entities government rather than strengthening existing institutions.

announced different Indirect election for chairman, vice chairman, mayor systems for urban and deputy mayor and for reserve seats would again and rural areas. encourage high corruption, horse trading, nepotism and pressure of the ruling party. This practice has But after already been seen during the election of consultation and nazims/mayors under the Musharraf system of LGs. Interestingly, every window of community participation process of in the LG through PLGA 2013 has been closed. amendment now Previously this was ensured through citizen community boards and village and neighborhood there is a uniform councils. In PLGA 2013 the formula of 33% women's system for both reserve seats has been distorted and diluted. In urban urban and rural and village councils, out of 13 members only two are now women. At the town, tehsil and district levels the areas. quota of women reserve seats is only 12% and that too on the basis of population can be changed. The civil society is committed to a target of no less than 33% of women in decision making in the political, public and private sectors and to developing strategies for increasing their active participation.

Under this bill the executive magistracy puts a question mark on the independence of judiciary. Initially the Punjab government announced different systems for urban and rural areas. But after consultation and process of amendment now there is the same uniform system for both urban and rural areas. The PLGA 2013 didn't mention any clause related to right to information and Provincial Finance Commission (PFC) mentioned the formula of resource distribution on the basis of population, poverty and backwardness.

Overall, PLGA 2013 is a mixture of Local Bodies Act 1979 under General Ziaul Haq and 2000 Local Government Act under General Pervaiz Musharraf, but in totality the present bill is more close to the 1979 law and strengthens the provincial government and bureaucracy at the cost of elected representatives and local communities. Some experts also highlight that this bill even minimizes the power of 1979 local bodies law making them puppet institutions in the name of independent LGs.

(Salman Abid is a political analyst and development practitioner based in Lahore)

32 www.citizenswire.com Deterioration of Basic Education in Sindh

Jami Chandio

While public sector institutions in Sindh in general remain deplorable, basic education is on the verge of obliteration putting the future of the province at stake. In the 21st Century, which will be a century of competition and in turn of merit and skill, no nation or society can envision development without education. I call what has taken place in Sindh, “the evolution of annihilation”.

According to the Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) 2012, there are 44,000 primary, 5,000 middle and secondary schools in Sindh while the number of enrolled students aged 5-16 is approximately four million. The report informs that the 66% students who have passed their third grade are not able to read even in their mother tongue; 78% of those are not able to solve addition and subtraction questions of simple arithmetic and 75% of the students from government schools are unable to read a single sentence in English language. This poor condition is of the students aged 5-16, as majority of the schools does not have proper education. Also, over 80% of primary, secondary and college teachers are unable to write in English.

Sindh's current Minister of Education Nisar Ahmed Khuro admits that primary education in the province is on the verge of devastation. In this way it is a slight improvement from the stance of the previous minister who did not even admit that education in Sindh was in a bad state. Certain steps taken by the current minister such as reviewing the curriculum are reflective of the minister's limited commitment towards the improvement of the quality of education but long-term strategy is still missing.

Article 25A of the constitution mandates compulsory and free primary education to children aged between 5 and 16, while Articles 37B and 38 of the second chapter of the

33 www.citizenswire.com In the 21st Century, 1973 Constitution also guarantee free basic education. The Article 26 (1) of the United Nation's which will be a Universal Declaration of Human Rights guaranteed (in century of competition 1948) that every human has right to basic education. and in turn of merit Article 28 of the Universal Charter of Children's Rights in 1989 accepted that all children have right to basic and skill, no nation or education. The second target of the Millennium society can envision Development Goals (designed in April 2000) include development without basic education for 100% of the world by 2015 but this target remains unachievable in many parts of the education. underdeveloped world such as Pakistan.

The reason for the deterioration of education in government schools in Pakistan, especially primary and secondary education, is that the standard of educational expenditure set by UNESCO is minimum 4% of the GNP but Pakistan has been spending on an average only 2%. Sri Lanka and Bangladesh have better averages.. The national educational policy designed in 2009 suggested that 7% of GNP be spent on education but this has failed to materialize in a country that prefers to spend disproportionately more resources on defense instead of education and other development projects. Education, especially for the poor, has never been the priority of the state.

In 1951 there were two million children deprived of education while according to the 1998 survey that number exceeded 5.5 million. In Pakistan 5.5 million children aged 10 years are not able to read and write, 52% girls between the ages of 5-16 are not enrolled in schools, and 67% of women are deprived of ability to read and write. This example depicts the alarming picture of the state of education from the inception of the country to-date.

Primary and secondary education in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has improved comparatively, while the condition in Sindh, Balochistan, Federally Administered Tribal Areas and Gilgit-Baltistan is the worst. The tragedy is that Sindh's education was the best among all the provinces in the country at the time of its inception and remained so until the 1960s.

There are total 49,000 primary and secondary schools in Sindh of which about 18,000 are defunct. There are total 49,000 Most of those are used as godowns and get-together primary and places of local influential landlords. The media has secondary schools in been showing pictures and documentaries on these 'ghost schools' that have turned into stables for Sindh of which about animals.. There are 146,000 teachers of primary and 18,000 are defunct. secondary schools and according to a survey over Most of those are 50,000 of these never come to schools – they get their salaries by bribing the concerned authorities. used as godowns and get-together places of According to government statistics there is 55% local influential literacy rate in the urban areas and 42% in the rural regions. Only 39% of the 5-16 year demographic go landlords.

34 www.citizenswire.com to government schools. Sindh is the only province of Pakistan where 21% (Rs134 billion) of the province's total budget (Rs617 billion) is spent on education. After the 18th Constitutional Amendment education now is a provincial subject. Nonetheless in Sindh only 4.2 million of 11 million children are enrolled in schools. There is no adequate space in government schools to accommodate the out-of-school children which Article 25-A mandates.

However, there are several other dimensions of the issue of education in Sindh. For example why would parents send their children to schools where quality education is not imparted? According to the government's figures there is no electricity in 24,000 schools of Sindh, 10,000 do not have boundary walls and 15,000 do not have washrooms while 20,000 lack even drinking water. According to another survey 19% of school buildings in Sindh are in disrepair and are a danger for children while 58% schools require repair.

Renowned economist and Nobel laureate Dr Amartya Sen has highlighted four standards in his thesis, without which parents and especially poor parents cannot send their children to schools: (1) the schools should be near the homes of children, (2) there

EDUCATION INDEX – PROVINCES AND TERRITORIES – NATIONAL RANKINGS

Gender Education Enrolment Achievement Survival Parity Rank Province/Territory Score Score Score Score Score 1 Azad Jammu & Kashmir 77.96 78.75 64.93 73.20 94.94 2 Punjab 68.78 81.67 63.56 45.60 84.30 3 Gilgit-Baltistan 67.45 65.67 54.53 70.40 79.21 4 Khyber PakhtunKhwa 63.79 74.17 44.45 56.40 80.14 5 Sindh 51.67 68.33 35.78 36.40 66.19 6 FATA 47.42 63.83 46.37 11.60 67.90 7 Balochistan 46.70 62.50 29.35 15.60 79.33 Alif Ailaan: Pakistan District Education Rankings 2013, In association with The Sustainable Development Policy Institute

SCHOOL INDEX – PROVINCES AND TERRITORIES – NATIONAL RANKINGS

Availability Building School Electricity Water Toilet Boundary Condition Rank Province/Territory Score Wall Satisfactory 1 Punjab 83.47 77.97 92.21 90.88 91.44 64.87 2 Sindh 66.70 51.34 79.21 78.55 77.88 46.50 3 Khyber Pakhtunkhwa 66.18 51.91 77.73 78.18 77.54 45.52 4 FATA 35.17 36.70 32.04 37.13 53.51 16.44 5 Balochistan 26.61 12.75 38.94 28.25 33.19 19.91 6 Gilgit-Baltistan 26.22 20.11 31.85 34.15 27.17 18.80 7 Azad Jammu & Kashmir 23.60 11.97 26.39 26.53 16.97 36.15 Alif Ailaan: Pakistan District Education Rankings 2013, In association with The Sustainable Development Policy Institute

35 www.citizenswire.com should be free quality education, (3) schools should be secure, and (4) education must offer children a better future. Based on this there is no capacity of the Sindh government to give free and quality education to its 11 million school-age children, nor would the parents find value in sending their children to schools.

A research report of the DFID-supported Alif Ailaan project, in collaboration with Sustainable Development Policy Initiatives and conducted by a number of educational experts and university academicians has analyzed the condition of education in Pakistan. Findings of its report indicate a gloomy picture of education in Sindh. For example under the country wise classification and educational index the educational score of Sindh is 51.67%, admission of children score 68.33%, success score 35.78%, and survival score 36.40%. It means the dropout ratio of students after admission is that it drops from 86.33% to 36.44%.

EDUCATION INDEX – SINDH – DISTRICT RANKINGS

Gender Education Enrolment Achievement Survival Parity Rank Province/Territory Score Score Score Score Score 1 Karachi 63.40 82.50 48.60 38.40 84.11 2 Hyderabad 55.68 63.33 39.36 40.00 80.01 3 Khairpur 55.12 73.33 38.25 50.00 58.89 4 Nowshero Feroze 53.83 64.17 48.68 42.00 60.48 5 Larkana 53.59 64.17 36.53 50.00 63.68 6 Dadu 51.89 70.83 44.60 45.20 46.94 7 Shaheed Benazeerabad 51.43 65.83 36.03 47.60 56.27 8 Sukkur 50.02 67.50 41.63 31.60 59.36 9 Shikarpur 49.50 60.83 37.70 40.00 59.48 10 Tharparkar 49.45 72.50 24.33 32.40 68.56 11 Sanghar 49.35 67.50 37.03 32.80 60.06 12 Umer Kot 49.31 74.17 37.75 27.20 58.11 13 Ghotki 48.28 58.33 40.48 44.40 49.92 14 Kashmore 48.27 56.67 34.43 49.20 52.78 15 Jamshoro 47.46 57.50 30.68 37.60 64.06 16 Mirpurkhas 46.84 67.50 35.95 22.00 61.91 17 Qamber Shahdadkot 46.79 55.83 37.58 34.00 59.79 18 Jacobabad 46.42 55.83 20.70 51.60 57.57 19 Badin 45.49 52.50 39.50 26.80 63.16 20 Matiari 44.24 63.33 24.08 28.00 61.57 21 Tando Allah Yar 40.42 53.33 30.48 24.00 53.87 22 Thatta 39.18 50.83 27.38 15.20 63.29 23 Tando Muhammad Khan 38.51 45.83 31.18 20.40 56.63 Alif Ailaan: Pakistan District Education Rankings 2013, In association with The Sustainable Development Policy Institute

In the index Sindh fares only better than Balochistan and FATA and while lags far behind Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

36 www.citizenswire.com In the same report the district wise index makes some alarming revelations: Sindh's largest city Karachi too The time to take stands at 56 out of Pakistan's 141 districts. The ranking of up the issue of other districts of Sindh is: Hyderabad 73, Khairpur 77, Naushehro Firoze 80, Larkana 81, Dadu 88, Nawabshah education in the 90, Sukkur 98, Shikarpur 101, Tharparkar 102, Sanghar province with 105, Umerkot 106, Ghotki 110, Kashmore 112, Jamshoro 116, Mirpurkhas 117, Qambar-Shahdadkot 119, the required Jacobabad 120, Badin 122, Matiari 135, Tando Allahyar seriousness and 130, Thatta 133 and Tando Muhammad Khan 134. Not a responsibility, is single of Sindh districts ranks among the country's top 50 districts but 15 provincial districts rank among the worst. now. Political According to this survey report, in the national school parties, the index, out of Pakistan's 144 districts Sindh's Larkana district stands at 42, Karachi 44, Hyderabad 45, Sukkur 56, media and Tando Allahyar 58, Qambar Shahdadkot 60, Khairpur 65, civil society Naushehro Firoze 68, Jamshoro 70, Shikarpur 72, Nawabshah 77, Sanghar 80, Ghotki 82, Tando must play their Muhammad Khan 83, Umerkot 87, Dadu 91, Badin 93, respective roles Tharparkar 117, Jacobabad 125, Kashmore 127 and to bridge the Thatta 140. education deficit The statistics portray a gloomy picture of the state of in Sindh. education in Sindh. Provincial Minister of Education Nisar Khuro told an educational conference in Hyderabad that Rs118 billion of Sindh's Rs134 billion educational budget goes into payment of salaries of teachers and educational officers and administrative expenses. If the total expenditure of education is divided with the number of enrolled children, the per child comes to Rs2,500 per month per child. India spends only Rs16,000 annually on each child and yet manages to provide free education and meals to 12 million children. This policy has increased school enrolment by 22% in a decade. The question is why can't Sindh achieve the same results despite spending Rs30,000 annually on each child? No qualitative change is possible in Sindh without an educational revolution. Now is a crucial time to take up the issue of education in the province with required seriousness and responsibility, and political parties, the media and entire civil and collective society must play their respective role to bridge the education deficit in Sindh.

[Jami Chandio is a renowned scholar, writer and activist, and currently working as executive director of the Center for Peace and Civil Society]

37 www.citizenswire.com Educational Reforms in Balochistan

Syed Ali Shah

Like other federating units, for the first time in the history of Pakistan, Balochistan has also been empowered to reform its curriculum courtesy of the 18th Constitutional Amendment, which has devolved, among other subjects, the responsibility of education to the provinces. The Education Department has launched the Balochistan Sector Plan to reform the curriculum and prepare a future roadmap in terms of ensuring provision of education to children.

“The plan gives a vision and method to achieve the future goals”, Secretary Education Balochistan Ghulam Ali Baloch has said. Currently the curriculum prepared by the Federal Government in 2006 is being taught in schools of Balochistan like in other parts of the country.

Nationalists - both Baloch and Pashtun - have traditionally Nationalists - both viewed the curriculum taught in government-run schools in Baloch and the province with suspicion. It has been their long standing demand to reform the education in line with aspirations of Pashtun - have the indigenous people of Balochistan. The passage of the traditionally historic 18th Amendment allows them to meet this long viewed the standing demand. curriculum Now the Balochistan government has decided to include taught in the names and descriptions of the political struggle of visionary Baloch and Pashtun nationalist leaders in the government-run curriculum with an objective of educating the next schools in the generation about the sacrifices rendered by indigenous province with heroes of the past. suspicion. The current Chief Minister Balochistan Dr Malik Baloch- It has been their led nationalist government appears to be determined to include the names of Mir Ghous Bakhsh Bizenjo, Khan long standing Shaheed Abdul Samad Khan Achakzai, Nawab Akbar demand to reform Khan Bugti, Mir Yousaf Aziz Magsi and other legendary leaders of Balochistan in the curriculum. education in line with “We cannot deceive our young generation - we must make them aware of the struggle of our own heroes”, Dr Malik aspirations of the Baloch said recently. He assured that as in the past, the indigenous founding fathers of nation, Muhammad Ali Jinnah, Dr people of Allama Muhammad Iqbal and all those who played a role in the creation of Pakistan would be also taught in schools. Balochistan. “Nobody should be frightened that we will forget our country's national heroes”, he assured.

Apart from reforming the curriculum, the Balochistan cabinet has also approved the

38 www.citizenswire.com Free and Compulsory Education Bill 2013. “The bill will be presented in the Provincial Assembly,” The current Chief Baloch said. Under the proposed legislation, the Minister Balochistan government will be bound to provide free Dr. Malik Baloch-led education to children. “Children can even approach the court in case there is no school in nationalist government their village”, Baloch explained. appears to be

Balochistan lags behind other provinces in terms determined to include of social indicators. According to World Bank the names of Report 2006, the province stands below other Mir Ghous Bakhsh provinces in Pakistan in ten key social indicators, including education, health, sanitation, drinking Bizenjo, water and literacy. The official reports paint a Khan Shaheed bleak picture of education in the province. Secretary Education Ghulam Ali Baloch reveals Abdul Samad Khan that more than 2.3 million children are deprived Achakzai, of education in Balochistan. He said the total number of children in Balochistan is 3.6 million of Nawab Akbar which only 1.3 million have access to some kind Khan Bugti, of educational institutions. Mir Yousaf Aziz Magsi “No doubt the situation appears to be grim and other legendary regarding education”, the chief minister, who was leaders of Balochistan also education minister in the mid-1990s, admits. Moreover, under the new plan 15,000 in the curriculum. teachers are being recruited to ensure presence of teachers in schools, located in remote-areas of the province. “We will bring back these children to schools”, he pledges. “If we failed to do so, it will be disastrous”, he added.

Traditional criminal silence on the part of the government along with other social, political, economic and religious reasons have been the main contributing factors to the grim state of education in the province.

For the first time, the new nationalists-led government has allocated 24% of the total budget for development of education sector in Balochistan. “Our priority is education, since it offers solution to all ills the society”, the chief minister says. However he admits that there are many barriers before the government can succeed in terms of implementing its Balochistan Sector Plan to reform the curriculum, open new schools and ensure presence of teachers in every nook and corner of the area, in the biggest federating unit of the country. The secretary education goes a step forward and says that after 18th Amendment, now the provinces should devolve powers to districts.

For reforming the curriculum, the Education Department has approached consultants from Islamabad. The curriculum will be prepared and reformed as per the requirement and wishes of the people of Balochistan. “This is a technical job - the consultants will only guide us”, Ghulam Ali Baloch says.

39 www.citizenswire.com Madrassas Similarly, the teachers would also be trained according to the curriculum. According to the (religious schools) secretary education the number of primary, replaced schooling in middle and high schools in Balochistan is 12,600. “More than 2,000 schools and more most parts of northern t h a n 3 , 0 0 0 t e a c h e r s a r e g h o s t s Balochistan (the Pashtun (dysfunctional)”, he says. The present dominated areas) and government has launched a drive to ensure the presence of teachers in remote areas of central Balochistan, the province. The number of government Khuzdar, Mastung, Kalat teachers as per the statistics of Education Department is 56,000. The government of and other areas. The Balochistan pays around Rs2 billion in salaries madrassas not only to these teachers annually, an officer of the provide religious provincial finance department says.

education but also boarding and lodging. Madrassas (religious schools) replaced schooling in most parts of northern Balochistan (the Pashtun dominated areas) and central Balochistan, Khuzdar, Mastung, Kalat and other areas. The madrassas not only provide religious education but also boarding and lodging. However, schools cannot provide the aforesaid facilities. Subsequently many parents opt to get their children admitted in seminaries rather than government-run schools. The number of madrassas has significantly increased in Balochistan. Sources in the provincial industries department reveal that around 3,000 madrassas were registered in Balochistan under the former military regime of General Pervaiz Musharraf. They said the number of unregistered seminaries is more than 10,000.

“Interestingly all madrassa-s are functional”, Niamatullah Khan, a well-known education said. Khan said there were “The government around 22,000 settlements in Balochistan. The has to declare an government was able to open up only 12,600 schools. The remaining 10,000 are still without schools. “The education government has to declare an education emergency in the emergency in the province to educate the new generation”, he asserts. province to Bringing reforms in the curriculum and bringing the 2.3 educate the new million children out of schools currently into classrooms is a generation” colossal challenge facing the Dr Malik Baloch-led government. However this is a challenge that cannot be ignored and cannot be tackled without prioritization.

[Syed Ali Shah is a Quetta-based journalist and researcher]

40 www.citizenswire.com Educational Chaos in Islamabad

Azam Khan

Despite the devolution of health and education subjects from the federal level to the provinces through the 18th Constitutional Amendment, confusion still prevails in the minds of the top bureaucracy of federal capital Islamabad about their leftover mandate. This is evident from exchange of a plethora of official letters and summaries between the center and the provinces.

One of the authors of the 18th Amendment, Senator Raza Rabbani, has explained repeatedly the spirit of devolution of power and opposed any interference in the affairs of the provinces but it appears that Islamabad is finding it hard to give up its erstwhile powers.

Post-devolution the formation of a federal ministry of education in Islamabad and the simultaneous existence of Capital Administration and Development Division (CADD), a body established after devolution of education and health to the provinces to take care of leftover departments in Islamabad, are at loggerheads with each other as well as with the provincial authorities.

The federal education ministry is currently looking after technical institutes including the National Commission for Human Development and the National Vocational and Technical Training Commission (NAVTTC). The Supreme Court in its judgment on November 25, 2011 had maintained that under Article 25-A of the Constitution, the federal government could not absolve itself of the responsibility of providing education to its citizens.

The Council of Common Interests (CCI) has constituted a committee under the federal law minister to look into the role of the federal government vis-à-vis education in light of constitutional provisions and the Supreme Court judgment. The federal government in June this year renamed the ministry as the Ministry of Education, Trainings and Standards in Higher Education. This is the third time its name has been changed after the 18th amendment.

Recently, the ministry released a 3-year “National Plan of Action,” containing data provided by the provinces for devising a strategy to gradually enroll over eight million out- of-school children across the country. According to the ministry's website, it outlines policies, plans and programs for ensuring mass education and integrated professional, vocational and technical training in sync with national needs and international requirements. The background conversation with ministry's officials demonstrates that they are convinced that the ministry should stay with the federal government as it is unlikely that international donors would contact provinces to make commitments to the cause of education in the country.

A summary seeking jurisdiction over various education bodies not taken by the provinces after the 18th Amendment, has been sent for the prime minister's approval by the Ministry of Education, Trainings and Standards in Higher Education. “All subjects related

41 www.citizenswire.com to the defunct ministry or any other remaining department or subject yet not handed over to the provinces should be given to the ministry,” read the summary.

In a discussion during a recent secretaries' meeting, it was also decided in principle that education and health bodies should be brought under their respective departments or ministries. A proposal to hand over the administrative control of Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences and Polyclinic to the Ministry of National Health Services is also under consideration.

After the approval of the summary, the Federal Directorate of Education (FDE), Federal College of Education, Academy of Educational Planning and Management, National Education Assessment Centre, Directorate General of Special Education, National Institute of Science and Technical Education, Private Educational Institutions Regulatory Authority and National Language Authority would be controlled by the ministry. Now officials are campaigning that getting control of the FDE will be a big success for the federal education ministry that is keen to bring reforms as dozens of issues halting educational progress in the capital are pending with the department including regularization of over 2,000 employees, enhancing quality of education in the capital's institutions and addressing issues like provision of textbooks.

The legislators too question the justification for a federal education ministry. A parliamentary panel questioned the Education Minister on September 10, 2013 and asked him to answer why there was still a federal education ministry when it had become a provincial subject after devolution of power to the provinces. Education and health are federal subjects everywhere in the world and devolution may result in national disconnect, replied the state minister for education, Balighur Rehman, to which Awami National Party (ANP) Senator Afrasiab Khattak had remarked that they debated the issue for months before devolving it to the provinces through the 18th Amendment. Calling it a federal subject means reverting it to the center, the legislator said. Rehman and Khattak had also exchanged hot words and the senator had alleged that the current government was trying to retain the education and health ministries.

The official record suggests that the education ministry also assumed the role to coordinate with provinces at least for uniform education system. The minister of state of the education ministry has sent letters to four chief ministers, seeking recommendations from all the provinces regarding the structure and main features of the uniform curriculum authority. The minister is sure if he is not following the spirit of constitution then he is toeing the party's manifesto for a national curriculum. The minister has urged chief ministers to ensure a uniform standard in syllabus for both public and private schools at all levels across the country.

The letter particularly seeks recommendations on topics like national ideology, common values and maintenance of minimum standards in each subject. The proposed commission for a national curriculum will have representation from all provinces and federal territories. Education secretaries and experts from all provinces would comprise the commission, which will be headed by each province and the federal government on a rotational basis. But so far no headway has been made as the provinces are reluctant to surrender what they earned after extensive democratic dialogue.

[Azam Khan is an Islamabad-based journalist]

42 www.citizenswire.com Predicament of Post-Devolution Higher Education

Murtaza Noor

Education has been understood as an essential element for development and social change. Higher education, in particular, is known to play a crucial role in grooming a new generation as catalyst for socio-economic change in the country. Pakistan's budgetary allocation for education is among the lowest in the world, at less than 2% of the GDP. Only six countries in the world spend less than Pakistan on education as percentage of GDP. Out of total allocated amount for education sector, less than 10% is spent on higher education, which is also among the lowest among developing countries.

According to international standards, the budget for higher education should not be less than one-fourth (25%) of the total allocated education budget but in Pakistan it is less than one-tenth. Pakistan is already struggling to improve its low access to higher education ratio, which currently stands at 8% as compared to 18% in neighboring India, 12% in Bangladesh 37% in Malaysia, 39% in Turkey and 95% in South Korea.

The previous federal government allocated Rs87.08 billion for higher education during 2007 to 2012 but only released Rs66.94 billion. A shortfall of Rs20.14 billion severely affected Pakistan's already neglected higher education sector.

The 18th Constitutional Amendment is an important step towards strengthening parliamentary democracy and federal system in Pakistan. It promises more autonomy to the provinces, a popular demand put forward by a number of political parties. Apart from the political restructuring, the Amendment also holds some major implications for the country's system of education. Through it a new Article 25-A, the right to education has been made a fundamental right.

Prior to the 18th Amendment, there was no explicit entry dealing with higher education. Realizing the importance of higher education for socio-economic development of country, the Amendment contains specific provisions regarding higher education. In the Fourth Schedule [Article 70(4)]: Federal Legislative List, Part I, Items 16 and 17 address issues such as research and foreign students, while the Fourth Schedule [Article 70(4)]: Federal Legislative List, Part II, Items 6, 7, 11, 12 and 13 deal with regulation of higher education, national planning, coordination of scientific and technical research, legal, medical and other professions, standards in institutions of higher education and research as well as scientific and technical institutions and inter-provincial matters and coordination. Presently, these functions are being undertaken by Higher Education Commission (HEC).

The promotion of higher education has also become joint responsibility of federal and provincial governments as Federal List II functions fall under the preview of Council of Common Interest (CCI). The council in its meeting held during May 2011 decided that the financing of provincial universities and population welfare would be the responsibility of federal government till next National Finance Commission (NFC) Award. Meanwhile, the provinces should also have responsibility to build the capacity of universities by providing them funding so that they can meet the standards.

43 www.citizenswire.com The main purpose T h e 1 8 t h A m e n d m e n t Im p l e m e n t a t i o n Commission, constituted under Article 270-AA of of all collaborative the Constitution of Pakistan, recommended that efforts should be the HEC at federal level should have certain powers, strengthening of the including evaluation of the performance of institutions; prescribing conditions for higher and higher education technical education; setting up national or regional sector, which has evaluation councils; accreditation, evaluation and ranking of institutions; faculties and disciplines; already been setting up tested bodies or designate any existing suffering for the body; equivalence and recognition of degrees; and past few years. diplomas and certificates of higher education within the country and abroad, etc.

As a follow-up of the spirit of 18th Amendment, HEC in the last few years has undertaken a number of reforms which include allocation of development funds to the universities as per NFC formula, application of federal quota policy on indigenous and foreign scholarships, formation of task force on Balochistan, effective formal working mechanism with provincial higher education departments, special human resource programs and fee waiver schemes for less developed areas, formation of provincial chapters of vice chancellors committee, ensuring provincial representation in various committees, strengthening HEC regional centers and setting up new sub offices, award of fellowships on federalism, degree attestation services at regional offices and joint programs for improving quality of college education, etc.

On the other hand, since 2010-11, the first year of flow of greater resources to provinces under the 7th National Finance Commission (NFC) Award, provincial spending on education has increased 37% but little funds have been allocated for higher education sector considering it as the responsibility of federal government till the next NFC Award. Currently, the recurring and most of the development expenditure of federal and provincial universities are being met by federal government through HEC.

Meanwhile, within last few years about more than 25 new public universities have been announced and established by provincial governments mostly by upgrading existing colleges and without taking into consideration qualified faculty and other necessary requirements including finances.

In addition, the combined budgetary allocation (federal and provincial) and the expenditure at the district level for all tiers of education (primary to higher) is an estimated Rs504 billion for 2013-14. This amount is nearly 17% higher than the preceding year's actual spending and represents 8% of the entire budgeted expenditure for 2013-14. The academicians and experts describe it a positive step, as total education budget has increased and expect that each tier of education including higher education would get more share accordingly. But unfortunately out of the combined budgeted allocation for education, 82% is earmarked for current expenditure (mainly salaries) and only 18% for development expenditure (construction of new facilities, upgrading existing facilities, etc.). In 2012-13, only Rs31.3 billion out of total allocated development expenditure on education, i.e., Rs70.3 billion was utilized. It is just 44.52 percent utilization.

44 www.citizenswire.com As far as legislation on higher education at provincial level is concerned, the Sindh Assembly passed the Provincial Higher Education Commission (PHEC) Act during the closing days of previous government which was challenged in Sindh High Court on the grounds that the provincial act was in conflict with the Constitutional (Article 143 in which no provincial law can be introduced in the presence of the federal law, unless the federal law is amended) and was contrary to the recommendations of the 18th Amendment Implementation Commission as well. Some constitutional experts have suggested that this matter be left with Council of Common Interests.

The new Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government has established a working group to deliberate on the issue and present recommendations. The provincial government of Balochistan is reviewing the matter along the same lines. As per its manifesto, ruling Pakistan Muslim League-N- government supports a strong, autonomous and resourceful HEC at the federal level. One of the major developments that took place in higher education sector after 18th Amendment is transferal of the powers of appointment of vice chancellors and other administrative matters from the governor (representative of the federal government) to the chief minister (elected chief executive of the province).

The provincial assemblies of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Punjab and Sindh have already taken necessary legislative steps in this regard. The vice chancellors are being appointed through search committees formed by the respective provincial governments. The academic staff associations, academicians and civil society circles demanded that these search committees should comprise relevant experts and appointment of vice chancellors may be ensured through a transparent and merit based mechanism without any political interference. The nominations for university syndicate/senate members may also be ensured on the same lines.

To address the challenges of higher education sector in the post-18th Amendment scenario, a broad-based consultation process should be initiated without any further delay with the concerned stakeholders; federal and provincial governments, parliamentarians, vice chancellors, civil society, faculty associations and foreign higher education bodies. A task force on higher education, which is awaiting notification, should be notified. The task force should make recommendations to the federal and provincial governments on the role, status and structure of higher education organizations both at federal and provincial level so that new legislations in conformity with 18th Amendment can come in effect at respective level.

The main purpose of all collaborative efforts should be the strengthening of the higher education sector, which has already been suffering for the past few years. Best international practices should be emulated and recommendations of stakeholders should be taken into consideration. Autonomy of the higher education institutions with necessary checks and balances can ensure these institutions can serve as the hub of innovation, creativity and research and play their pivotal role in building communities and economies.

[Murtaza Noor is Focal Person of Inter University Consortium for Promotion of Social Sciences and is associated with higher education sector]

45 www.citizenswire.com Putting 25m Children in Schools with the Help of Article 25A

Adnan Rehmat

Pakistan is ranked the second worst country of the world boasting the dubious distinction of having the most schoolgoing age children out of schools – the staggeringly high number of 25 million. Only Nigeria has worse figures. More than 6 million Pakistani children out of schools are of primary school age. This is the highest ranking in the world. Sudan is the second highest at 3 million. Pakistani girls enrolled in primary schools expressed as a percentage of total number of pupils in primary schools stands at about 40 percent. This is the second worst ranking in the world, after Afghanistan. Close to 4 million girls of schoolgoing age in Pakistan are out of schools – this is the worst ranking in the world. How can we possibly sleep at night?

Whose responsibility is it to ensure children go to schools? What does the state feel about this? Article 25A as part of the 18th Constitutional Amendment enacted in 2010 promises free and compulsory education for children between 6 and 16 years. Says Article 25A, rather succinctly, “The State shall provide free and compulsory education to all children of the age of five to sixteen years in such manner as may be determined by law.” But the devil, as they say, is in the details – in the absence of definitions of 'free' education and 'compulsory' education or elaboration for the age bracket of '6 to 16 years', there cannot be accurate estimations of the resources necessary to enforce Article 25A. The key implication for the federal state and provinces, then, is that they are in serious danger of rigging themselves up for failure in regards to enforcing Article 25A.

Reading 25A right What does 'free' education mean? Does it mean just free tuition, or also free books and free transport? Education being a provincial subject, the budget for free text books and free transport would be different from the budget for free tuition. Then there's 'compulsory' education. Does this mean parents will be forced to send children to school and if not forced will they be punished? If so, legislative requirements will be needed for this, as well as enforcement mechanisms – and allied budgets. Are provinces ready for this? And the what about the section of Article 25A that promises taking care of the educational needs of children between the ages of '6 and 16.' Does this mean 10 years of education or educating children of this age group matriculate? What if a student fails and cannot complete matriculation by age 16? In such a case, will s/he not be subsidized for full matriculation?

Lack of clarity on interpretation on scale, scope and mechanisms means the provinces may not be able to work out the budgets to implement Article 25A. If this isn't bad enough the last National Finance Commission (NFC) Award, which allocates the share of national revenue for the provinces, came before the 18th Amendment (and the attendant Article 25A). This means that the provinces' allocations for education budgets are devoid of the accuracy in estimation of resources required to enforce Article 25A. This has a real potential for Article 25A to be doomed for failure with the dire implication that even more children will be added to the tally of 25 million children already out of schools.

46 www.citizenswire.com 25m voters for education The latest general election was held in May 2013 and The practicality of education was one of the key themes of focus of implementing manifestos on which promises of political parties were Article 25A needs made. This means the demand side of education was outlined – both first through political consensus on to be understood by 18th Amendment (inclusive of Article 25A) and political parties, through the election pledges of parties. Elections have provincial happened and different parties have come into power in the provinces. Over 25 million votes have been governments, secured based on promises and now it's time to fulfill policymakers and them, i.e., it is now time to investigate and attend to the stakeholders through supply side of education. There is a need to create a lobby to demand enactment and to help bring the investigation and focus on drafting mechanisms, not just compliance. advocacy about the Bringing together relevant stakeholders to create such essential links mechanisms and lobby to serve as a watchdog on the commitments made by political parties is important. between promises by political parties, The practicality of implementing Article 25A needs to resource allocations be understood by political parties, provincial governments, policymakers and stakeholders through and governance investigation and advocacy about the essential links mechanisms on between promises by political parties, resource education policies allocations and governance mechanisms on education policies for them to succeed. This for them to succeed. investigation is missing and needs to be conducted. The fact that the NFC Award, which divides national revenue among the provinces, came before the 18th Amendment means that the massive funds required for effective and successful implementation of Article 25A are not available. The appropriate allocations were therefore not made by any province in the budget for the new fiscal year after the May 2013 elections. This also means the provinces and the new parties that have come to power there are not really equipped to meet this obligation.

Subordinate legislation For all the above, subordination legislation is necessary, particularly by the provinces. Do the parties/provinces know about this, are they doing something about this, and have they the resources to do it, or have the priority and commitment to do this, or have made pronouncements and facilitative policies to make it happen so that allocations can be secured? So what about mechanisms for implementation, enforcement and facilitation and the resources necessary for these mechanisms? The NFC Award doesn't factor these and recommend / allocate resources. So does this mean a new NFC is needed? Or a new amended Article 25A is needed?

Then there is Article 140A of the Constitution dealing with devolution – asserting that ultimately subjects including education are to devolve from provinces to districts. So how prepared the provinces are for this in terms of policies and resources required to fulfill the obligations of Article 140A? Don't hold your breath on this one.

47 www.citizenswire.com Putting another 25m in classrooms The following roadmap is recommended to build a consensus in each of the four provinces to generate the urgency of effort and detail required to promote prioritized enforcement of Article 25A:

1. Identify the resource allocation and budgetary gaps between implied costs of implementation of Article 25A and the last NFC Award allocations relating to education

2. Quantify the costs of pledges made on education in manifestos of political parties heading provincial governments now and their actual allocations to education in the latest provincial budgets with specific focus on implementation of Article 25A.

3. Promote awareness and dialogue among key stakeholders, including parties, governments, CSOs working on educational issues and educationists, on the gaps between promises and actual budgets and actual resources and mechanisms needed for implementing Article 25A.

4. Empower key supply-side actors such as teachers and their unions to move beyond demands for higher salaries to articulate demand for realistic resource allocations from policymakers for implementation of Article 25A.

Efforts are needed to assist and inform the debate Time is running out. on implementation of Article 25A at the federal and provincial levels by generating accurate, specific We need to send those and relevant information, research, analysis and 25 million children to context required to generate support for the cause to promote better understanding among the key schools who have never stakeholders for the kind of planning and been to a classroom in strategizing required to practicalize the their lives. How can implementation of Article 25A. this not be By generating relevant and currently unavailable the top priority of data and analysis on the links between promises of political parties, allocations of resources and the provinces? proper interpretation of the implications of Article 25A, particularly in relevance to the NFC Award, the provinces can better plan implementation of this constitutional guarantee. There is a dire need to nudge the debate from generalities to specificities and practicalities to improve the chances of the success of implementation of Article 25A and generate the right resources that currently don't exist to make this happen. Time is running out. We need to send our 25 million children to schools who haven't been to classrooms in their lives. How can this possibly not be the top priority by the provinces?

[Adnan Rehmat is based in Islamabad and is a development communications specialist and political analyst]

48 www.citizenswire.com Tribute to Nelson Mandela

Civic Thoughts

in the absence of elected local government the citizens are denied of their constitutional right to representation at political and fiscal fronts. The development needs and demands of these areas are not being articulated and included in the overall budget making as these are the provincial governments making arbitrary decisions for these areas. This distant and vertical decision making is creating fiscal and political distortions in the country. In all four provinces, the local government funds are being decided and diverted by the provincial headquarters which encourages elite capture and leads to regional and sub-regional disparities. Local governments still remain the unfinished agenda item for the Pakistani democracy on the one hand and the state of Pakistan remains incomplete without the third tier of governance in the country on the other. Amjad Bhatti, National Technical Advisor SPFD, UNDP-Pakistan

The basic premise of the citizens' right to information (RTI) is that as that the citizens pay for the expenditures incurred by the governments through their taxes. They have a right to know what is being done with their money. But for centuries the bureaucracies and politicians have been in the habit of working in an environment of secrecy, in the name of national security, breeding a culture of corruption, favoritism and nepotism. The 18th Amendment has made the RTI a constitutionally protected right of every citizen of Pakistan. The introduction of 'sunshine' laws–as the RTI legislation is known–is bound to bring about transparency in the public affairs, reducing the potential for corruption and misuse of power.

Muhammad Ali Shaikh, PhD Professor and Vice-Chancellor SMI University, Karachi 74000

In a democratic society, every citizen has five keys to reform the rot system. The first is quality education to protect him/her from all sort of mental incapacitation and be active and effective citizen, the second is power of vote to be governed democratically without any fear and coercion, the third, right to information for transparent governance; the fourth is the consumers right to be protected from excesses of the market and the fifth and final one is public interest litigation if someone trying to snatch any of these keys.

Zafarullah Khan, Executive Director, Centre for Civic Education Pakistan www.citizenswire.com