Who should manage education and health?

Last month, Leader of Opposition in the National Assembly, Syed Khursheed Shah, wrote a letter to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, proposing signing a 'charter of improvement of health and education sectors' so as to 'pay more attention' to education and health service. The prime minister has endorsed the idea and proposed Khursheed Shah to 'start work on the draft and take all parties on board'. As to what is cooking we don't know, except for the possibility that devolution of these two sectors to the provinces under the 18th Amendment may be curtailed, if not fully reversed by enacting a new constitutional amendment. Transfer of education and health to the provinces is the hallmark of the 18th Amendment, because no other part of it vindicates the long-lasting campaign for enhanced provincial autonomy. Naturally, Senator Raza Rabbani, who is seen as the architect of the 18th Amendment, has vociferously criticised the move, branding it 'illegal and unconstitutional'. Contesting the 'authority' of the prime minister and leader of opposition to make a decision on provincial subjects like education and health he has promised to raise the issue within his party. But given the debate over lacklustre performance of the provinces in these two sectors and some merging ground realities do warrant a deeper insight into this issue, and the possibility of some tempering with the related constitutional position cannot be ruled out. After all, constitutions do evolve over time to remain relevant to the obtaining socio-political and economic imperatives. The hard fact is that the kind of intellectual and juridical exertion required to change nearly one-third of the Constitution was never available; the committee's work on the proposed draft of amendment was passed by the house without any debate. Yes, education and health were provincial subjects under the government of India Act 1935, but these two subjects were on the Concurrent List. The said list was repealed under the 18th Amendment, but their fuller devolution has not materialised, as much for the reluctance of federal bureaucracy as for the practical difficulties in sorting out issues like national programmes to combat malaria, tuberculosis, AIDS and EPI at the Centre and the education programmes like national council for curriculum, national council for human development, higher education and national education programme that the provinces don't want. Then there is the Supreme Court decision of November 25, 2011 that "the federal government cannot absolve itself from the responsibility of providing education to its citizens". And no less inhibiting the devolution of education and health to the provinces is the stiff opposition by the foreign donors who insist on their control by the Centre. The WHO is reported to have conveyed once to the government that it would give funds to the federal government, and not the provinces. Of course, there is logic to the argument that devolution of powers to the provinces as envisaged by the 18th Amendment is curtailed if not obstructed by the federal government also to help fix angry members and coalition partners as political appeasement or rewards. Health and education are now provincial subjects but there is Saira Afzal Tarar as Minister of National Health Services, Regulations and Co-ordination and Baleeghur Rehman is the State Minister for Education, Training and Standards. Senator Raza Rabbani is absolutely right in asking the Centre to keep out of provincial domain and transfer subjects of education and health lock, stock and barrel to the provinces as dictated by the constitution. But this is also fact that, for whatever the reason, this has not happened during two regular and an interim governments. Perhaps, the framers of the 18th Amendment should have retained these two subjects on the Concurrent List. Rightly then the communication between the prime minister and leader of opposition on the issue makes lot of sense. Let there be a nation-wide comprehensive debate on it, both from the angles of the provincial autonomy and the global dimension these subjects have acquired. There should be no problem if the parliament amends the related part of the 18th Amendment by a more detailed constitutional amendment. At the stake is not only the provincial autonomy but also national outlook, which got to be harmonious and unanimous, and which only an agreed curriculum can help forge. And, one last point: what about the education and health of residents of Islamabad, which is home to people from all the provinces?