KP concerned at proposed amendments to Nepra Act

 Federal minister says reservations of the province will be addressed  

ISLAMABAD: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) government on Friday expressed concern over the federal government's proposed amendments to the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) Act 1997, and the federal government’s decision to bring the power regulator under the line ministry, saying it will not compromise on the independence of the regulatory body.

It is worth mentioning here that in the last meeting of Council of Common Interests (CCI), KP and Sindh provinces had also opposed the amendments and putting the power regulator under the ministry. After that, CCI assigned the Ministry of Water and Power to come up with a consensus on the issue after taking inputs from the provinces.

In pursuant to the directions, the chief ministers of KP and Balochistan along with the chief secretaries of Punjab, Sindh and Balochistan met here Friday Minister for Water and Power Khawaja Muhammad Asif to discuss the amendments to the Nepra Act, formulation of National Flood Protection Plan and National Water Policy. Ministry of Water and Power Secretary Muhammad Younus Dagha and other senior officials of the ministry also attended the meeting.

KP Chief Minister Pervaiz Khattak while talking to media after attending the meeting expressed, “We have conveyed our concerns to the federal government regarding Nepra’s Act’s amendment and bring the regulatory body under the control of the line ministry.” He further said, “We will make decisions keeping in view both the provincial and national interests.” 

However, Minister Asif Khawaja assured CM Khattak that as the proposed amendments were in initial stages, in next few meetings, the Centre would try to fully satisfy the province regarding their reservations, sources told this scribe.

Khattak asked the federal minister what the motive was behind bringing Nepra under line ministry. Khawaja Asif and Water and Power secretary briefed the KP CM and said they had no bad intention,

“This is just related to the administrative decision and there will be no interference in the functioning and decisions of the regulator.” As chief ministers of the Punjab and Sindh provinces were not present, it was decided that the amendment to the Nepra Act would be discussed thoroughly in next meeting after having all the chief ministers on board.

It is worth mentioning here that Peshawar High Court (PHC) earlier this month had suspended the notification issued by the federal government through which administrative control of Nepra was being given to the Ministry of water and Power. The petition, filed by PTI’s parliamentary leader in the Senate Nauman Wazir, challenged the federal government decisions of transferring the administrative control of the Nepra to the Ministry of Water and Power. The petitioner claimed that the high official of the ministry had openly showed their dismay over the Nepra work and considered it a hurdle in smooth functioning of the ministry.

The petitioner claimed that all regulatory bodies, and particularly Nepra, came under the domain of the CCI. KP chief minister has also written a letter to the prime minister and the minister of Inter-Provincial Coordination on the issue.

The Center also shared the proposed National Flood Protection Plan’s draft with the provinces as the Sindh provinces protested that it had two missing provisions which were there in earlier policy. In earlier policy, financing of the capital work was the responsibility of the federal government while repair was the duty of provinces. However, the Center assured that the draft would be fine-tuned and these provisions would be included in the final draft.

Besides, the water policy draft was also shared with the provinces. Representatives of the federating units told the center that after consultation with their respective irrigation departments, they could give the final consent to it. The Center and provinces will also hold several other meetings on these plans.

(Another report on page 15)