Hostile attitude of Centre towards provinces blamed for delays in uplift projects

The hostile attitude of the federal government towards provinces is delaying development projects and escalating costs, as revised PC-1 of Chashma Right Bank Canal has estimated the cost of project to Rs 119.6 billion against the original PC-1 of Rs 25 billion, observed a parliamentary panel here on Monday.
Senate Special Committee met with Senator Muzaffar Hussain Shah in the chair and recommended for taking the issues of net hydel profit of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, share in federal excise duty, railways land for mass transit and federal government guarantee for power plants in the Council of Common Interests (CCI). The committee further recommended that all the recommendations should be made part of the upcoming budget for 2017-18.
The committee finalised recommendations on 24 demands made by the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government and forwarded the draft to Senate for further discussion. After the approval of the Upper House, the recommendations would be sent to the ministries concerned.
The convenor of the committee said that in case of no objections on the recommendations by the ministry concerned within two months, its implementation would become binding on them and in case of violation, a privilege motion would be moved against them.
The committee recommended for giving promised share to the province in the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and paying of outstanding Rs 15 billion out of the Rs 17 billion announced by the Prime Minister to rehabilitate post-crisis economy of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. The committee has also recommended the implementation on Ministry of Water and Power Policy, 2015 with respect to water and IPPs in the province. The committee has also recommended the federal government to inform the province in advance about load shedding.
During the committee meeting, Senator Rehman Malik and Senator Taj Haider strongly criticised the federal government. The convenor of the committee observed that hostile attitude of the federal government towards provinces is disappointing. The federal government is blocking development of provinces and it should change its attitude. This hostile attitude has delayed development projects and resultantly their cost escalated. The federal government/ministries and departments have submitted their replies in response to the KPK government's 24 demands. Senator Taj Haider, Senator Rehman Malik, Senator Shibli Faraz, chief secretary Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and other senior officials from different ministries and departments attended the meeting.