ISLAMABAD: A Senate panel, on Tuesday, expressed dissatisfaction over lack of concrete decisions by the Council of Common Interest (CCI) on issues of various provinces pending before the forum and called for an early resolution of the disputes and redressal of grievances of the federating units.

A meeting of the sub-committee on the Senate Standing Committee on Inter-Provincial Coordination was held on Tuesday under the chair of Senator Rana Maqbool Ahmed, which was attended by Senator Mushtaq Ahmed Khan, besides senior officers from the Ministry of Inter-Provincial Coordination.

The committee deliberated over the reasons for numerous cases pending before the CCI. Senior officials of the ministry informed the panel that as compared to previous years, the CCI has been more active and holding regular meetings.

However, the committee maintained that despite conducting regular sittings no concrete decisions had been taken on the issues that had been submitted to the CCI. The committee stressed the need for implementation and follow-up of the ministry to ensure that issues of grave national interest are resolved at the earliest.

The chairman of the committee stated that an early redressal of the issues would address grievances of the provinces and ensure development and prosperity of the country.

The committee asserted that in order to dispel inertia, it is important essential that the role of the ministry and its functionaries is defined. The committee further observed that in order to ensure implementation and progress, the ministry should fulfil its monitoring role and the tendency to scrutinise matters from a political lens should be curbed as well.

The committee members were of the view that lack of political will was another major reason that led to constant delay in making decisions on the issues at the CII. The committee members also observed that lack of infrastructure is also a major impediment and also asked the ministry to discard its apathetic attitude.

About the comprehensive list of cases that were pending before the CCI, the committee directed the ministry to acquire responses from the concerned departments and revert to the panel within prescribed timelines. The committee also recommended that opinion of members of the CCI should also be taken in order to determine the causes of delay on implementation of the CCI decisions.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2021