The Council of Common Interests (CCI) on Monday decided to form a committee for judicious distribution of water among all the provinces.

Addressing a press conference after the CCI meeting which was held under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Imran Khan, Special Assistant to PM on Information and Broadcasting Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan said the committee, which will comprise water experts, will submit its recommendations about the issue to the CCI within one month.

She said that telemetry system will be installed at water reservoirs to ensure its judicial distribution among the provinces. She said it has also been decided that PC-1 of this system will be prepared after a review within four weeks.

She said the meeting further reviewed the net-hydel profit in detail and decided to constitute a high-level committee comprising technical experts to prepare recommendations in this regard within one month.

Dr Awan said that energy projects are right of every province and all provinces will take National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) into confidence before approval of any energy project.

She said the meeting also approved the policy regarding exploration and production of oil. She said that it has also been decided to take measures to improve the quality of production of local industries.

Dr Awan said the meeting was informed about privatization plan of Haveli Bahadur Shah and Balloki power projects.

She said the meeting approved petroleum exploration policy and reviewed Sindh's concerns over LNG import. The special assistant maintained that a power project at Chashma-Jhelum Link Canal has been postponed. She said the meeting discussed a range of issues, including the appointment of chairman and members of the Water and Power Development Authority (Wapda), amended petroleum policy, LNG import, and amendment in the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra) Ordinance 2002 and renewable energy policy.

The meeting asked the provincial governments to adopt a collective strategy for uniform curriculum and education system in the country.

Dr Firdous said that a 23-point agenda was discussed in the 41st meeting of the council. All the chief ministers, provincial chief secretaries and other high officials were present in the meeting.

Earlier, Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan said in 'New Pakistan', all rights of minorities are protected and they have equal opportunities to make progress. In a tweet on social media platform Twitter, she said the Constitution of Pakistan is the guarantor of rights to minorities, adding the minorities in India are protesting against the biased and discriminatory citizenship law.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2019