Rs5 Trillion spent illegally on Provincial subjects, devolution committee alleges constitutional violations

The federal government has spent more than Rs5 trillion on provincial subjects and ministries dealing with matters assigned

Islamabad:  The federal government has spent more than Rs5 trillion on provincial subjects and ministries dealing with matters assigned to the Council of Common Interests (CCI), despite the 18th Constitutional Amendment transferring these responsibilities to the provinces, according to a report of the Auditor General of Pakistan presented before a Senate subcommittee.

The massive spending has raised serious questions about the use of taxpayers’ money, constitutional violations and the continued existence of federal ministries that the committee believes should have been abolished after the 18th Amendment.

Senator Barrister Zamir Hussain Ghumro, convenor of the Senate Sub Committee on Devolution, said the federal government was spending around Rs19 trillion while the country’s total tax and non tax revenue stood at approximately Rs20 trillion.

He said Pakistan’s borrowing had reached $135 billion, leaving little financial space for provincial governments and development projects.

Referring to the Auditor General’s report, the convenor said more than Rs5 trillion had been spent on devolved provincial subjects and ministries created for CCI matters. He described the expenditure as a serious misuse of taxpayers’ money and questioned the legal authority under which the federal government continued spending on subjects assigned to the provinces.

He said the amount was equivalent to more than $18 billion, while Pakistan had received around $15 billion from the International Monetary Fund during the last 15 years.

The senator argued that the country had spent more money on these federal ministries and institutions than the IMF assistance received during the same period.

He said Pakistan could have used this money to improve roads, hospitals, schools, housing, clean water and other public services if the constitutional division of responsibilities had been properly implemented.

The convenor maintained that the 18th Amendment clearly transferred provincial matters to provincial governments, while matters listed in Part II of the Federal Legislative List were to be handled through the Council of Common Interests.

He said Article 154 of the Constitution, read with Article 97, required executive authority over Part II subjects to be exercised through the CCI rather than the federal cabinet.

He further argued that the federal government should not spend public money on health, education, housing, sanitation and water services that fall under provincial responsibilities.

According to the convenor, the Federal Consolidated Fund has two broad categories of expenditure. One is charged expenditure, which includes salaries and benefits of constitutional office holders and judges, as well as debt servicing. The other is spending through demands for grants by federal ministries.

He said federal ministries could only seek funds for responsibilities assigned to the federal government under the Constitution and questioned the legal basis for spending on provincial subjects.

The senator also questioned the role of the Finance Ministry, Auditor General and Accountant General in approving such expenditure, arguing that they must ensure public funds are spent only on legally authorised federal responsibilities.

He called for the expenditure to be examined and those responsible to be held legally accountable.

The committee was also informed that the CCI and Cabinet Division had already sent proposals to the Prime Minister for abolishing 24 federal ministries and institutions to reduce government expenditure.

The convenor directed the CCI and Cabinet Division to send a fresh note to the Prime Minister, urging immediate action to abolish ministries and institutions dealing with provincial and CCI subjects.

The committee also examined the unequal representation of smaller provinces, particularly Sindh and Balochistan, in federal government jobs, ministries and public corporations.

Establishment Division officials informed the committee that advertisements had been issued for 5,000 jobs for Balochistan to improve its share in federal employment under Article 38(g) of the Constitution.

However, Senator Ghumro said the shortage in Balochistan’s share exceeded 30,000 jobs and demanded that all vacant positions be filled.

He also pointed out a shortage of more than 80,000 federal jobs in Sindh’s share and called for immediate steps to advertise the vacant positions.

Together, the reported shortfall in the two provinces exceeds 110,000 jobs, highlighting the scale of the representation problem.

The committee expressed concern that people from Sindh and Balochistan had very limited representation in senior federal positions, including federal secretaries, chief executive officers and other top posts.

The Secretary of the Federal Public Service Commission informed the committee that appointments against the shares of Sindh and Balochistan would be expedited because the earlier backlog had been cleared. He also said special CSS examinations had been conducted for candidates from the two provinces.

However, the committee said that announcements and examinations were not enough and demanded actual appointments at every level.

It directed the federal government to provide complete province wise figures for grades 18 to 22 within 15 days.

The committee also instructed the government to speed up recruitment in grades 1 to 15 through the relevant ministries, grades 16 and 17 through the Federal Public Service Commission, and grades 18 to 22 through the federal government and Prime Minister.

Senator Ghumro stressed that Article 38(g) required fair representation across all grades and that the government must show practical results rather than make repeated promises.

The committee also expressed displeasure over the failure of the Ministry of Information to submit its report on the devolution of print media organisations and functions at the federal level.

The ministry had previously requested one month’s time to prepare a plan for transferring these functions and developing a mechanism to give broadcasting rights to provinces under Article 159 of the Constitution.

The committee rejected further delay and directed the ministry to finalise all outstanding matters and submit its compliance report within 15 days.