ISLAMABAD: The federal government spent more than Rs5 trillion on devolved provincial subjects and ministries created to deal with matters falling under the Council of Common Interests (CCI) in violation of the Constitution, a Senate subcommittee was informed on Tuesday.
The figure, cited from areport of the Auditor General of Pakistan, is equivalent to more than $18 billion, the Senate Subcommittee on Devolution was told at a meeting chaired by its convener, Senator Zamir Hussain Ghumro.
According to a readout of the meeting issued by the Senate secretariat, the convener said the country was facing the twin challenges of excessive federal expenditure and heavy borrowing, with external debt touching $135bn.
Federal expenditure, he said, currently stood at around Rs19tr, against total tax and non-tax revenue of Rs20tr, leaving little for the provinces and forcing the federal government to resort to heavy borrowing.
Mr Ghumro maintained that Pakistan would not have needed IMF assistance hadthe government fully implemented the 18th Amendment, devolved provincial subjects and transferred matters falling under the CCI to its permanent secretariat, as envisaged under Article 154 of the Constitution.
He said Pakistan had received $15bn from the IMF over the past 15 years, while the federal government had spent $18bn-$20bn on devolved ministries and institutions during the same period.
Had this amount been invested in infrastructure and social development, Pakistan would have been a different country, he argued, describing the expenditure as an unauthorised use of taxpayers’money.
Explaining the constitutional framework, the convener said expenditure from the Federal Consolidated Fund fell into two categories: ‘charged expenditure’, which includes remuneration and other benefits of the president, chairman of the Senate, speaker, deputy chairman, deputy speaker, auditor general, high court and Supreme Court judges, as well as debt servicing, and ‘other expenditure’ approved through demands for grants for federal ministries.
He said charged expenditure was not subject to voting in the National Assembly, while other expenditure should be confined to subjects falling within federal jurisdiction.
The federal government was not responsible for providing services such as health, education, housing,sanitation and water, which fell within the provinces’ constitutional domain, he maintained.
Mr Ghumro argued that spending federal funds on provincial subjects amounted to misuse of authority and should be accounted for under the law and Constitution.
He said neither the finance ministry should submit demands for grants for such expenditure nor should the Auditor General or Accountant General authorise it.
Referring to Articles 142, 154 and 97 of the Constitution, he said powers not assigned to the federation were vested in the provinces, while executive authority over matters listed in Part II of the Federal Legislative List rested with the CCI ratherthan the federal cabinet.
The convener said the CCI and Cabinet Division had already sent summaries to the prime minister proposing the abolition of 24 ministries and institutions to reduce federal expenditure, but no response had been received. He directed both bodies to send a fresh note to the prime minister seeking the abolition of ministries dealing with provincial and CCI matters.
Provincial job quotas The committee also reviewed the representation of provinces in federal ministries, departments and corporations.
The Establishment Division informed the committee that 5,000 posts reserved for Balochistan had been advertised toaddress a shortfall in its employment quota under Article 38(g) of the Constitution.
However, Mr Ghumro said the committee had identified a shortfall of more than 30,000 jobs in Balochistan’s share, which needed to be filled.
He said Sindh also faced a shortfall of more than 80,000 jobs under its quota and called for corrective measures, including the advertisement of vacant posts.
The Federal Public Service Commission (FPSC)secretaryinformed the committee that appointments against the quotas of Sindh and Balochistan would be expedited, adding that an earlier backlog had been cleared.
He said a special CentralSuperior Services (CSS) examination had also been conducted for the two provinces.
The committee expressed concern over the low representation of officers fromSindhandBalochistan in senior positions, including federal secretaries and chief executive officers.
Mr Ghumro said Article 38(g) required equitable representation across all grades and directed the federal government to submit a grade-wise breakdown of appointments in grades 18 to 22 within 15 days.
He called for expediting recruitment through ministries for grades 1 to 15, through the FPSC for grades 16 and 17, and through the federal government and prime ministerforgrades18to22.