The federal government has sent summary to the Council of Common Interests (CCI) to get back the control of World Heritage Sites and some other departments that were transferred to provinces under 18th Amendment.
Ministry of Information, Broadcasting and National Heritage prepared the summary for Reversion of devolved subjects of the Department of Archaeology and Museums (DOAM) relating to Federal Legislative List.
The DOAM was the sole agency at national level to preserve and protect the immovable Historical and Archaeological sites, monuments and moveable antiquities.
The functions of this department are governed under Antiquity Act 1975. Under 18th Amendment Act, 2010, the entities on the Concurrent.
Legislative List with relation to Archaeology was devolved to provinces, whereas the Department of Archaeology and Museums at federal level is specifically empowered to perform functions of the Federal Legislative List.
Some entities mentioned on the Federal Legislative List were also devolved to provinces in violation of the Constitution as they were not part of the Concurrent Legislative List, said Mashhood Ahmed Mirza, Joint Secretary, Heritage Wing of the ministry while talking to APP.
The federal government is making efforts to get back get back the devolved subjects including a total of 6 World Heritage Sites, 403 national heritage Sites and monuments, a total of 13 museums which were controlled and financed by the Federation of Pakistan through the Federal DOAM, Exploration and Excavation Branch (Archaeological Survey) Karachi, Pakistan Institute of Archaeological Training and Research (PIATR) and Central Archaeological Laboratory, Lahore, Tile Mosaic Laboratory, Lahore, Paper Conservation Laboratory Karachi, Water and Soil Investigation Laboratory Moenjodaro and Conservation Laboratory at Taxilla.
These functions/entities relating to the Federal Legislative List not only curtailed the functions of the Federal Department of Archaeology and Museums but virtually made it a redundant entity at the federal level.
On the other hand, all previously protected sites transferred to the provinces are in a state of neglect and in-attention, the summary says.
The National Assembly Standing Committee on Information and Broadcasting and National Heritage in a meeting took serious notice of the issue and directed this ministry to seek legal opinion from the Ministry of Law, Justice and Human Rights as to weather the entries on the Federal Legislative List and Functions/Components of the Federal DOAM could be devolved under 18th Amendment Act.
Accordingly the case was taken up with the Ministry of Law, Justice and Human Rights Division and the ministry in response clarified that in the aftermath of the Constitution (18th Amendment) Act 2010, an Implementation Commission was constituted and that took certain decisions with regard to these sites. The Federal Legislative List categorically gives competence to the federation regarding implementation of treatise and agreements with regard to culture.
Ministry of Information, Broadcasting and National Heritage is of the view that the devolution of subjects to provinces relating to federal Legislative List is against the spirit of 18th Amendment Act, 2010. Therefore, the same should be reverted back to the DOAM in the public interest.
The sites and monuments of Pakistan inscribed on the world heritage list of UNESCO include Archaeological remains at Moenjodaro, Sindh, Archaeological remains at Taxila, Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Buddhist remains at Takht-e-Bahi at Mardan, Historical Monuments at Makli Hills, Thatta, Fort and Shalamar Garden, Lahore and Rohtas Fort.