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NFC Award and Governance Issues
It is indeed good news. The
Chief Ministers of four provinces of Pakistan along with Finance
Minister Shaukat Tareen have finally reached to NFC award
formula which will satisfy all federating units of Pakistan.
It is also good news that Punjab
has shown grace and agreed to play the rightful role in the
development of other units of Pakistan.
NFC award formula was a major
concern for all units of the federation for a long time, the
agreement on the formula among Chief Ministers and Federal
government is indeed a step forward and a major achievement. We
must recognize it has only become possible because of the
political set-up.
Within next few years, we will
see the real impact of this NFC award on all units of
federation.
If transfer of major portion of
resources improves the conditions in all provinces then we
expect the federal govt. will take further steps to transfer
more resources to the federating units and let them handle their
affairs independent of Islamabad.
It makes financial sense the
provinces control taxation such as sales tax and spend them to
build and strengthen their infra structure.
According to UNO surveys
Pakistan’s population is exploding at very fast rate. If it
keeps growing at the current rate, Pakistan will become
population-wise the fourth largest country in the world by 2050
only trailing after China, India and USA.
Pakistan’s many current problems
are the net result of fast growth of population. The
institutions did not grow with the speed of growing population
to accommodate the needs of the new members of the Pakistani
society. Regardless of staggering growth in population, the
Services Sector almost remained still. Consequently, on one hand
education, health and transport system broke down and on the
other the surge of unqualified, ill-equipped, and untrained
institutions in the private sector further complicated the
issues for the growing population of Pakistan.
We hope, after the settlement of
NFC award, the provincial governments will take necessary steps
to improve Services Sector in all four provinces of Pakistan.
For business and investment growth, an active, effective and
efficient Services Sector is a pre-requisite. Without efficient
Services Sector, the dreams of economic growth and prosperity
always remain unfulfilled.
While federal government will
shift major portion of resources to provinces, it should also
focus on restructuring its structure to replace present
redundant structure with a more active, effective and efficient
structure.
For example, federal government
does not need this huge number of ministries. More ministries
basically mean more complications, more expenses, and more
hurdles in governance.
Govt. does not need
constitutional amendment to liquidate these ministries. An
executive order can do the job.
Most of the jobs being done by
these huge ministries can be done by small size agencies
controlled and directed by Directors or Secretaries. Bureaucrats
are trained to run such agencies.
A country of Pakistan size does
not need more than 11 or 12 ministries. Liquidating non
essential ministries and creation of Independent Federal
Agencies will decrease expenses, increase efficiency and make
things more transparent.
A Prime Minister with the team
of 11 or 12 Ministers can manage Pakistan better than a Prime
Minister with 70 or 80 Ministers.
Consider this, what sense does
it make from governance point of view to have 70 or 80 ministers
in a Cabinet meeting without even a less than 2 minutes time to
speak if the Cabinet meeting lasts for 3 hours?
NFC award is indeed good news.
However, developing active, effective and efficient structures
at Federal and Provincial levels is the key to use these awards
effectively for the betterment and improvement of people of
Pakistan.
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