Three CMs walk out of NEC meeting

ISLAMABAD: Differences between the federal government and the provinces over the development budget emerged at a meeting of the National Economic Council (NEC) on Tuesday, prompting a walkout by the chief ministers of Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan.

The chief ministers of Sindh, KP and Balochistan, Murad Ali Shah, Pervaiz Khattak and Abdul Quddus Bizenjo, demanded the Centre to present a three-month budget and include their new development schemes just right away.

Sindh CM Syed Murad Ali Shah asked the federal government to include new schemes immediately when Minister for Planning Ahsan Iqbal offered them to sit down for resolving the issue after the NEC meeting, but Sindh and other provinces refused to accept his offer and boycotted the meeting.

On the other hand, Ahsan Iqbal termed the move of the three chief ministers as politically motivated and said that they were demanding three-month budget and inclusion of new schemes, but the federal government could not present the revenue and expenditure details on three-month basis. He said the provinces can present three-month budget because they are supposed to make expenditures after receiving revenue from the Centre, but the federal government would have to collect taxes, so it’s not possible.

“The NEC is the recommending body and approval of development programme is part of the Finance Bill to be approved by the National Assembly,” he added.

The minister said the government included 80 percent ongoing schemes, but decided to start 20 percent new schemes in order to meet demands of the operational side as sometimes donor-funded projects start under international obligations.

He said that the NEC approved Rs1,030 billion for the Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP) under which Rs825 billion was allocated for ministries/divisions and departments, Rs105 billion for TDPs and special programmes and Rs100 billion forthe incoming government. So the total size of the federal programme stood at Rs1,030 billion and provinces’ outlay at Rs1,013 billion, while the total national development outlay was set at Rs2,043 billion.

However, it was an unprecedented move on the part of three provinces for boycotting the proceedings of the NEC. Meanwhile, the Council of Common Interests (CCI) approved the national water policy.

After the walkout, the three chief ministers while talking to journalists at the National Press Club said that Article 156 of the 1973 Constitution asks for equitable and fair distribution of development, but the Centre refused to accept their demands. They said they asked the Centre not to present budget for the whole fiscal year and go for only a three-month budget.

Murad Ali Shah said the meetings of the NEC and CCI were held, and the members debated the Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP) at the NEC meeting. He said they recorded reservations over new development schemes at the meeting, adding that the incumbent government would complete its term in May and it could not design the PSDP for the next fiscal year. The CM alleged that the prime minister wanted to "forcefully" get an approval for the summary. "We were told at the meeting that 'your approval is not required,'" he said.

"To that, we replied that there was no reason for us to sit in the meeting when our approval is not needed," the Sindh CM said. Shah said the quorum of NEC meeting broke after their walkout and if the PSDP for the next fiscal year was approved after they left the meeting, then it would be "illegal."

Pervaiz Khattak said they kept stressing for more than hour that justice was not being done. "They have been including projects of their choice in the development budget; we have faced similar deceits previously as well," Khattak said.

Balochistan CM Abdul Quddus Bizenjo questioned why they were called if they had no importance in the development programme. "We demanded that a budget be presented only for the remaining two or three months and let the next government make the remaining budget," Bizenjo said. Bizenjo said the sixth budget should be presented by the next government.