| COVER STORY | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
NRB
hosts international Moot on MDGs A
two-day international conference on governing for Millennium
Development Goals (MDGs), with focus
on incentives, ownership and institutions was held in It
was jointly sponsored by the Government of Japan (PHRD Program),
CIDA & UNDP. Mr. Yusupha B. Crookes, Country Director
World Bank Institute opened the moot with his welcome address.
In
his inaugural speech the Prime Minister said that the people
of He
further said that for bringing in reforms the ownership of institutions
is imperative. He
also said that prior to the take over of the present government
the national treasury was over borrowed & heavily indebted.
“Right the movement we have high growth rate (7%) and achieved
targets”, he said. Prime Minister further said that during last
seven years poverty has been reduced from 34% to 24%. Out of
which 8% reduction has been recorded in the urban areas while
11% reduction has been observed in the rural areas. He claimed
the agriculture is the main driver of poverty elevation and
said that his government has given top priority to the agriculture.
In this context the government has introduced balanced use of
fertilizer which was earlier being used abnormally. On
the water issue, the Prime Minister in his extempore speech
said that Bhasha dam will store more
water & will produce lot of energy. He
said that dams are more necessary & Bhasha
will have a positive role on rural economy. He also said that
achieving MDGs is though a difficult
task but energetic & lively nations could only get through.
On
the issue of education & Madarsahs
Prime Minister said that educational reforms stand on the top
of the agenda of his government. He said that the government
is proud of Madarsahs working in the
country. He said that they are doing well. “I
am referring to the bulk. Some times misconceptions happen.
It can happen any where in the world”, he added. He
also said that the present government has done a remarkable
service towards women empowerment. He said that women participation
has been ensured in all spheres of life. From parliament to
local governments & to judiciary to army, women’s participation
has been ensured. He
claimed that today our country is the only country in the whole
world where women have more seats.
On
the government’s media policy he asserted that the freedom enjoyed
by the mass media today is unprecedented and presently dozens
of TV channels are working in the country. While 50 more channels
are likely to appear shortly. He said with the growth in the
media job opportunities have increased. The 2-day conference
was divided in seven sessions which was participated by important
functionaries. 1st
session of the conference entitled as “Donors Programs and their
compatibility with country reform with focus on achievement
of MDGs”, was presided over by the
Chairman NRB Mr. Danial Aziz and the
panelists were: 1.
Mr. Yusupha B. Crookes,
Country Director WB. Context
of the session was: Donors
have been assisting various tiers of government in executing
development programs. Modifications in donor interventions have
concentrated on program versus project orientations as well
as functional specialties like health and education. Often the
recurrent side of the spending cycle, the systems (like contracting
and procurement, recruitment, delegation of financial powers
etc) are not even mentioned let alone addressed. The recurrent
side of the budget is primarily where governance decisions are
conducted. The focus of the session is to examine firstly, the
critical nature of government sector reform for achieving MDGs
and secondly whether Donors Programs support and carry forward
the decentralization process effectively or no. 2nd
session of the conference was entitled as: “Role & Responsibility
of Institutions in Post Colonial Democratic Reform with focus
on Police, Judiciary, Executive and Enforcement”, was presided
over by the Speaker National Assembly, Chaudhry Amir Hussain, and the panelists were: 1.
Dr. Sher Afghan Khan Niazi,
Minister for Parliamentary Affairs. Context
of the session was: The
Local Government System introduced in 3rd
session was entitled as “Transition Cost Sector Reform with
focus on Revenue, Judiciary, Police, Accounts & Audit Departments”,
was presided over by the Auditor General of 1.
Sardar Hasnain
Bahadur Dreshak, Minister for Finance, Context
of the sessions was: Revenue,
Judiciary, Police, Accounts & Audit Departments are the
core Institutions for good governance constituting what is being
called the transaction cost sector (like social sector, infrastructure
etc…). Over time, differentiation in prioritization of functions
has dulled, and all functions have come to be prioritized by
development budget hierarchy with social sector in the lead.
The deficit in investment and maintenance of the transaction
cost sector has become a critically limiting factor. Failures
of these institutions can seriously erode public confidence
and nullify any investments in social sector service delivery
institutions. The focus of this session is to examine the issues
and challenges confronted in this regard. 4th
session was entitled as “Civil Service Reform-District Service
with focus on local government empowerment in recruitment, efficiency
& discipline, promotions, posting & transfer” was presided
over by the Secretary Establishment, Mr. Syed Tariq Ali Bukhari, the panelists were: 1.
Dr. Nadeemul Haque,
Director General PIDE. Context
of the session was: The
Local Government Ordinances provide for creation of District
Service comprising District and Tehsil Cadres in order to allow administrative autonomy to
local governments for efficient performance of their decentralized
functions. The focus of this session is to examine the issues
and challenges confronted in creation of District Service and
local government empowerment in recruitment, efficiency &
discipline, promotions, posting & transfer of their officials. 5th
session was entitled as “Pay & Pension of Government Servants
with focus on Incentives” was presided over by the Minister
of State for Finance, Mr. Omer Ayub, the panelists were: 1.
Mr. Naveed Ehsan,
Secretary General Finance. Context
of the session was: Inadequate
Pay & Pension package of Government Servants and lack of
incentives is attributed as a rood cause for the inefficiency
in public sector service delivery. The focus of this session
is to examine the issues and challenges confronted in incentivising the public sector performance. 6th
session was entitled as “Bottom up Planning with focus on Citizens
Mobilization” was presided over by the Chairman NRB, Mr. Daniyal
Aziz, and the panelists were: 1.
Raja Muhammad Bashara, Minister for LG & CD, Context
of the session was: Bottom
up Planning and Citizens Mobilization provide for the basis
of sustainable development and improved service delivery. The
grass root level empowerment through the institutions of CCBs
provided in the local government ordinances acts as a vehicle
of development that can facilitate their everyday living. The
focus of this session is to examine the issues and challenges
confronted in:
7th
session was entitled as “Information System Reform for improving
governance” was presided over by the Minister for IT, Mr. Owais
Leghari, and the panelists were: 1.
Mr. Tahir Chaudhry, President, Computer
Society of Context
of the session was: In
view of increase in the establishment, resources and service
delivery requirements, use of Information Technology is considered
vital for improving governance. The focus of this session is
to examine the issues and challenges for creating enabling environment
for the automated management of public sector at the local level. Background
of MDGs The
MDGs were derived from the United
Nations Millennium Declaration, adopted by 189 nations in 2000.
The targets were set to be achieved by the year 2015 on the
basis of the global situation during the 1990s. ”At the time of 2005 World Summit, it was increasingly
realized by the Heads of State that although MDGs
are global they can most effectively be achieved with the active
and continuous involvement of sub-national/district levels of
Governments, civil society and local population at large. National
level plans are critical. But experience has shown that national
plans must be linked with both local realities and the people
they serve to be successful. An essential pre-requisite to localizing MDGs is to create effective local governments that can then
play a key role in eradicating poverty through provision of
access to basic services. The devolution process that began
with holding local government elections in August 2001 is now
firmly rooted and was given further strength with the second
round of elections held in August 2005. Designed around the
principles of grass-root democracy and community participation,
communities are now more empowered through their representatives
and many local governments are even embarked on healthy competition
for provision of better access to services for their citizens.” Under
the local government system introduced in August 2001 the local
governments are responsible for enforcement of local and special
laws, Police as stated under Police Order 2002 and most of the
social sectors and municipal services. District Governments
are responsible for Health, Education, Population, Agriculture
Extension, Livestock, Fisheries, Land Revenue, Excise and Taxation
etc. Municipal services performed by TMAs
include water supply, sanitation, conservancy, removal and disposal
of sullage, refuse, garbage, sewer
or storm water, solid or liquid waste, drainage, public toilets,
express-ways, bridges, flyovers, public roads, streets, footpaths,
traffic signals, pavements and lighting public parks, gardens,
arboriculture, landscaping, billboards, hoardings, fire fighting,
land use control, zoning, master planning, classification, declassification
or reclassification of commercial or residential areas, markets,
housing, urban or rural infrastructure, environment and construction
& maintenance of the facilities. The
MDGs indicators have shown considerable
improvement over the predevolution
period. Devolution has introduced a democratic rights based
participatory system of Governance including a new mechanism
of financing local governments through the Provincial Finance
Commissions for equitable and transparent distribution of provincial
resources. However,
there are numerous challenges. To accelerate the progress it
is essential that the local government system is fully supported.
For effective service delivery it must be ensured that the local
governments are provided adequate funds and human resources
along with necessary financial and administrative powers. The
vertical programs need to be restructured in accordance with
the LGO. In the context of Local Government Ordinance, 2001
”Vertical Programs” are defined as those development
programs, which deal with local government functions specified
in the Provincial Local Government Ordinances but are either
planned, executed, implemented or controlled by the Provincial
Governments or other agencies. Vertical programs undermine local
autonomy and lead to lack of ownership. For effective provision
of services the creation of District Service as specified in
section 140-A of the LGO is another critical area which needs
to be undertaken on priority basis. Provincial
restructuring needs to be expedited to ensure that the Provincial
Departments are able to perform their new functions of policy
formulation, standard setting, performance analysis and capacity
building of local governments effectively. The provincial
Departments need to be properly aligned with the local government
structures as required under section 133-A of the LGO. This
report explains the progress and achievements on MDGs,
the framework for achieving MDGs through
the local governments, identifies the challenges which lie ahead
and provides a way forward for delivering the MDGs
in the stipulated period. Millennium
Development Goals In
September 2000 at the Millennium Summit the member states of
the United Nations issued the Millennium Declaration, committing
themselves to a series of timebound
and quantified targets for addressing extreme poverty in its
many dimensionsincome poverty, hunger, disease, lack of adequate
shelter, and exclusion-while promoting gender equality, education,
and environmental sustainability. Most of the targets are to
be achieved by 2015. Known as the Millennium Development Goals
(MDGs), they represent a framework
for achieving human development and broadening its benefits. Goal
1: Eradicate Extreme Poverty and Hunger Goal 1: Target 1: Halve,
between 1990 and 2015, the proportion of people whose income
is less than one dollar a day. Indicators: 1. Proportion of population below $ l Purchasing Power Parity per day. Target 2: Halve,
between 1990 and 2015, the proportion of people who suffer from
hunger. Indicators: 4.
Prevalence of underweight children under-five years of age. Goal 2: Target 3: Ensure
that, by 2015, children everywhere, boys and girls alike, will
be able to complete a full course of primary schooling. Indicators: 6.
Net enrolment ratio in primary education. Goal 3: Target 4: Eliminate gender disparity in primary and secondary
education, preferably by 2005, and in all levels of education
no later than 2015. Indicators: 9.
Ratios of girls to boys in primary, secondary and tertiary education. Goal 4: Target 5: Reduce by two-thirds, between 1990 and 2015,
the under-five mortality- rate. Indicators 13.
Under-five mortality rate. Goal 5: Target 6: Reduce by three-quarters, between 1990 and
2015, the maternal mortality ratio. Indicators 16.
Maternal mortality ratio. Goal 6: Target 7: Have
halted by 2015 and begun to reverse the spread of HIV/AIDS. Indicators 18.
HIV prevalence among pregnant women aged 15-24 years. Target 8: Have
halted by 2015 and begun to reverse the incidence of malaria
and other major diseases. Indicators 21.
Prevalence and death rates associated with malaria. Goal 7: Target 9: Integrate
the principles of sustainable development into country policies
and programmes and reverse the loss of environmental resources. Indicators 25.
Proportion of land area covered by forest. Target 10:
Halve, by 2015, the proportion of people without sustainable
access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation. Indicators 30.
Proportion of population with sustainable access to an improved
watfurban and rural. Target 11:
By 2020, to have achieved a significant improvement in the lives
of at least 100 million slum dwellers. Indicators 32.
Proportion of households with access to secure tenure. Goal 8: Target 12: Develop
further an open, rule-based, predictable, nondiscriminatory
trading and financial system (Includes a commitment to good
governance, development and poverty reduction both nationally
and internationally). Target 13: Address
the special needs of the least developed countries (Includes:
tariff and quota free access for the least developed countries’
exports; enhanced programme of debt relief for heavily indebted poor countries
(HIPC) and cancellation of official bilateral debt; and more
generous ODA for countries committed to poverty reduction). Target 14: Address
the special needs of landlocked developing countries and small
island developing States (through the Programme
of Action for the Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing
States and the outcome of the twenty-second special session
of the General Assembly). Target 15: Deal
comprehensively with the debt problems of developing countries
through national and international measures in order to make
debt sustainable in the long term. Indicators Official
Development Assistance (ODA) 33.
Net ODA, total and to the least developed countries, as percentage
of OECD/DAC donors gross national income. Market
access 38.
Proportion of total developed country imports (by value and
excluding arms) from developing countries and least developed
countries, admitted free of duty. Debt
sustainability 42.
Total number of countries that have reached their HIPC decision
points and number that have reached their HIPC completion points
(cumulative). Target 16: In
cooperation with developing countries, develop and implement
strategies for decent and productive work for youth. Indicators 45.
Unemployment rate of young people aged 15-24 years, each sex
and total. Target 17: In
cooperation with pharmaceutical companies, provide access to
affordable essential drugs in developing countries. Indicators 46.
Proportion of population with access to affordable essential
drugs on a sustainable basis. Target 18: In
cooperation with the private sector, make available the benefits
of new technologies, especially information and communications. Indicators 47.
Telephone lines and cellular subscribers per 100 population. Results and achievements an MDGs,
MDGs National Status The 18 global targets and 48 indicators adopted in 2000
have been translated into 16
national targets and 37 indicators keeping in view
According
to the 2006 MDG Report in terms of attainment of Net Primary
Enrolment, districts of Supporting
the office of the
Out of 10 fastest growing
districts in terms of annual growth rate as well as in absolute
change, 4 belong to
Some Issues and Options
with Few Recommendations for Future Water Sector Strategy in
The drought of recent years, growing poverty and political
conflicts has once again drawn attention to water resources
and the role it plays in the economic life of the country. This
subject has therefore rightly taken center stage in the national
debate. Government’s response has been impressive when it proposed
a huge investment for the sector (US$8 Billion over the next
ten years and over US$ 30 billion by 2025). Major portion, it
is said, would be for new storage dams, hydropower, and more
irrigation infrastructure. However, this will raise some of
the same issues that came up in the sixties when the
At a time when the country is approaching the limits
of its water resources potential, and its irrigation infrastructure
is rapidly ageing, the previous approach of adding more infrastructure
alone (supply side) is not going to be realistic. Therefore
water resources development and management in the coming period
will have to be different in many ways. The new strategy would have to be IWRM oriented, seeking
better integration between irrigation, hydropower, and agricultural
development through modernized institutional and governance
arrangements duly supported with competence, and having clear
focus on demand management. The socio economic and evironmental
framework would need to be rigorous, participative and transparent
to create ownership and make the best of limited resources.
Importantly, there should be new and committed approach for
forging and strengthening partnership with the private sector.
And, this whole process must be politically acceptable to avoid
the costly experience of the past. Since provincial autonomy is being often mentioned as
the way of the future, the above strategy will also make many
other process steps such as: policy for investment (how much,
which ones and in what sequence) and incentives (efficient and
productive water use and sustainable O&M, pricing and regulation)
that will be essential for prior agreement, more readily acceptable
by all the partners. For rational decision making with regard to investments
and their priority for financing, the past practice where federal
and provincial water agencies invariably proposed projects from
their un-financed portfolios as per their own priorities, irrespective
of their strategic importance for collective benefit of the
whole country, and complicating resource allocation process
for other important economic thrust areas (eg.
education and health, poverty alleviation and devolution etc),
has to be avoided. This is not simple unless the reform process
also envisages forging effective partnerships between water
agencies of the provincial and the federal governments at various
levels through transparency and equal access to information.
It is not easy but is sometimes facilitated by a more neutral,
competent and influential forum outside the government. Such
forums when created promote and support an IWRM approach to
management, development and use of water resources. The most important actions for sustainable water resource
development and management of The debate on what should come first in reservoirs to
be built is not quite complete. Its sequencing and investment
are not determined yet. This will require more study and consultation
with all the stakeholders for developing comprehensive short
term and long term plans for impacts for the various alternatives
considered. Its not known if the government has considered this
aspect, but its important to give it high priority.. The new canal systems envisaged in the water development
program will provide an excellent opportunity for developing
them with new concepts of participatory water management including
new governance arrangements that will maximize efficiency, sustainability,
and high value agriculture. This will serve as a model for what
the future For the health of the basin two most important actions
relate to salinity and groundwater management. These are: putting
in place an inter-provincial drainage accord for safe disposal
of the saline effluent, a particularly important challenge,
needs to be addressed with urgency. Also, developing a regulatory
framework for optimal groundwater development, management and
use in the provinces is equally urgent. Continued unregulated
development of groundwater is rapidly leading to deteriorating
water quality and dangerously falling groundwater tables, thus
rendering this vital resource unsustainable. There has been lot of talk about IWRM and River Basin
Management approach, but on the ground very little has happened.
The sector is still fragmented, participation of users in the
management of the basin’s resources is minimal, the integrity
of the basin as a whole is still no ones responsibility, and
water resource is considered mostly as a social good. Under
these circumstances there is a real need to promote and facilitate
a new awareness at all levels from individuals to policy makers
to political leadership that water is a finite resource, which
in the present case is reaching the limits of its availability
and environmental and ecological soundness, and will soon become
so scarce that it will begin to affect the way of life of people
in Pakistan. The poor and disadvantaged sections of the society
will be hit the hardest. The donors are aware of this and therefore,
leveraging policy to reflect this seriousness should be considered
to form the basis of lending in this sector. The ageing infrastructure of the Growing water scarcity in the basin is limiting migration
opportunities that once existed for people from these water
poor-areas. Investments in local water development through community
participation holds an attractive choice for benefiting the
poorest of the poor with respect to most basic needs of drinking
water and basic sanitation for them and their livestock, and
where women and children take the brunt of water scarcity by
having to haul water from long distances, and in the process
are deprived of access to education and suffer disease and ill
health. Lachi poverty reduction project jointly financed by DFID and
UNDP and the Punjab Biosaline project
financed by AusAid and UNDP have benefited
the poor including women. These outcomes are reached when communities
are socially mobilized and are put in the driving seat with
appropriate technical and really very little financial support.
The government is putting about Rs.66Billion in water conservation
in mostly the canal commanded areas. Because of the strong nexus
between water and poverty, for the sake of equity, and also
based on urgent needs of these outside basin arid areas, proportional
focused support for water development and conservation is urgently
needed for these areas. Continued donor support for such work
to go to scale is to my mind very important. One of the important challenges for the future program
in the water sector is in the area of human resources. If the
reformed institutions of the future are not able to access local
competence, and there is inadequate opportunities for technical, managerial and financial
capacity building, it would be unrealistic to expect satisfactory
strategies, planning and implementation of water sector programs.
The need is across the board in the provinces and at the federal;
level. The new social economic and environmental realities require
a new breed of professionals trained and with adequate background
in engineering social sciences and the environment. Today’s
world is different from that of the sixties. Even for sourcing
out what cannot be done by local institutions requires great
competence and skill. This is an important area in which donors
can help and contribute to sustainable capacity building and
in the process forge real partnership with developing country
institutions. Research and practice is also still very far from the
integrated manner in which it is supposed to benefit production.
Even adaptive research has lagged in using knowledge that is
proven to increase productivity. Even though this is an institutional
issue, it is a fact that the problem starts from the top where
water and agriculture are in separate ministries in the federal
and provincial governments, even though agriculture is by far
the largest user of water. Delivery of water and related production
is not integrated, particularly from accountability standpoint.
This anomaly sadly continues to persist. Funding for research has always received last priority,
with the result that professionals manning research facilities
are low paid and often have no research funding to support their
work. If there is effective connectivity between research and
production, funding would flow. That needs to be put in place
by providing resources and linking it to production targets
(accountability). This is one of the essential steps towards
achieving productivity increases. This is another area that
could be of interest to the donors. But it requires long-term
commitment and development of institutional linkages between
knowledge centers of the respective countries. This can also
leverage resources from the side of the government as well. The financial needs of the water sector are far in excess
of the available resources. Therefore it takes longer time and
much higher cost to complete locally financed water projects
(eg. Hub Dam and
Khanpur Dam). There is also
grossly insufficient O&M funding that results in rapid decay
of infrastructure and loss of benefits particularly to the poor
(eg:. rural water supply schemes). Private sector involvement
therefore is one of the ways in which resources can come. However
they do not come easily. Institutions, management instruments
and political commitment are a prerequisite. In the evolving
policy frameworks, renewed emphasis on building and strengthening
public private partnership is very important. Although it is
not easy, but like in the power sector, if appropriate support
at the political level, backed with the needed instruments is
made available in the water sector as well, it could attract
private capital flow (eg: Munda
Dam, private tube-wells). Similar experience is available in
other countries. Challenges have increased while investment has decreased
due to limited fiscal space. In the coming period more innovative
ways of financing strategic and urgent works (storages, modernization,
rehabilitation and institutional development) will have to be
explored. Water pricing, collection and application and improved
O&M would need greater and more urgent attention. Better
demand management, and sequencing of investments to meet carefully
determined needs in more strategic ways is needed. Better coordination
between and among the federal and provincial water agencies
will pave the way for more effective integrated management of
water resources. Modernization of the irrigation distribution system;
through data-base management and information management is necessary.
Irrigation system was designed mainly for low cropping intensity
and at low operation costs. Modernization and rehabilitation
or system improvement needs an integrated and comprehensive
approach to increase the physical and economic performance of
the system. Effective farmers’ participation would ensure ownership
and long term sustainable system performance. Effective implementation
of the water accord and rationalization of water rights in the
canal networks down to the level of farmer organizations should
be a policy priority. All these will be steps toward IWRM. Irrigation system that was once designed mainly for low
cropping intensity and at low operation costs is now subjected
to new complexities. These
complexities of large interconnected network that is running
short of water, and upon which growing demands of reliably delivering
water for people, food and the environment is imposing severe
constraints on the way it can provide this service.. Apart from
adding additional storage, (absolutely necessary because of
sedimentation in the reservoirs) system rehabilitation and modernization
(for improved efficiency and productivity) and vastly improved
IWRM oriented governance structure (for reliable, equitable.
Economic and responsive service delivery), there has got to
be more awareness raised among stakeholders (essentially users)
regarding their responsibility to conserve and protect this
resource so that it is sustainably
available for now and for future generations of Pakistanis. Transaction cost sector
reform with focus on revenue 1. The Revenue-
and the Board of Revenue The Board of Revenue has not been decentralized and devolved
and it retains its organizational and Institutional setup and
it continues to be a part of the provincial government. The
managerial control of revenue functionaries however, to some
extent have been devolved to the district governments. The Board of Revenue is one of the 29 departments under
the Sindh Government Rules of Business, 1986.
2. Sindh Local
Government Ordinance, 2001 i. Decentralized
Offices: With the inception
of Sindh Local Government Ordinance, 2001, 30 offices from out
of 29 departments stand devolved under Section 14 and 35 of
the Ordinance. The list is annexed at “A”. ii. Other offices: There are 16
other offices which too have been devolved. List annexed at
“B”. 3. District
Government According to Section 13 of Sindh Local Government Ordinance,
2001, the composition of District Government includes Zila Nazim and District Administration. i. Group of offices: 11 groups of
offices constitute the District Administration. List annexed
at “C”. ii. Revenue: Land Revenue
and Estate and Excise and Taxation is the Xth
group of offices (among the eleven) envisaged under the devolved
system. 4. The business
assigned to the Board of Revenue/Revenue Department Before visualizing any perspective on revenue, it is
imperative to understand the role assigned to the Revenue department
in a provincial setup. i. It is the highest
revenue appellate forum in a province: Appeals against
original orders of Mukhtiarkar (Tehsildar) lie with the Deputy District Officers (R) and subsequent
appeal against the order of Deputy District Officer (R) also
lie with District Officers (R). The second appeal or revision
lies with Executive District Officers (R) and against his orders
a revision can be filed with a Member of the Board under a provision
of the Sindh Land Revenue Act, 1967. ii. The Revenue
Department is responsible for collection of tax/duties/levies/service
charges: The Board
of Revenue is responsible for collection of (i)
Water rate, (ii) Land Tax, (iii) Agricultural Income tax, (iv)
Local Cess (v), Drainage Cess (vi), Stamp duty (vii), Registration fee (viii), Lease money
etc. This is the second
most important assignment to the Revenue Department. All these
taxes and duties are collected for the Provincial exchequer.
The Revenue collected by the Board is by far the highest most
source of income for the Sindh government followed by Excise
enactment. A total of over Rs.6,000
million are collected by the Revenue department in the shape
of Taxes and duties alone. iii.
Land Utilization (Colonization): Allotment
of state land for agricultural, residential and / or any other
purpose including the establishment of Industrial Zones and
industries is made by the Revenue Department, under the Colonization
of Government Lands Act, 1912. Very recently,
Statement of Conditions for the Grant of Land under the Act,
have been revised and made more transparent and stringent. Although the
National Housing Policy 2001 provides that district governments
will identify chunks
and parcels of land for development of housing,
the provincial government however, retains ownership on state
land and will continue
to release land for various purposes including to the Federal Government to district governments,
other departments and individuals for development. iv. Stamps- The Stamp Act, 1899: Judicial and
non-judicial, adhesive and non adhesive stamps are got printed
by placing an indent with the Pakistan Security Printing Corporation.
The stamps and stamp papers are neither serialized nor bear
the year of printing therefore, this has continued
to be a source of revenue for the provincial government and
can not be envisaged to be devolved. v. Registration-The
Registration Act, 1905: Similarly,
the registration of conveyance deeds including the Power of
Attorney has remained a provincial subject There
are in all 72 documents which require to be registered under
the Registration Act, 1905. And both Acts
are the provincial legislation. 5. District
evel revenue setup At the district level the revenue group of offices is
headed by an Executive District Officer and District Officer
and Deputy District Officers at Taluka
level. All the district officers are drawing their pay and allowances,
perks and privileges from the Provincial consolidated fund,
through a single line transfer. i. The single
line transfer: The single
line transfer, besides salary component includes non-salary
component and funds for developmental activity. These transfers
are worked out by the Provincial Finance Commission (PFC) for
three years, on the basis of poverty and backwardness. Each Union
Council also gets a sum of Rs.100,000
per month. Similarly each Town Municipal Administration (T.M.A)
gets Octroi Zila
Tax (OZT) share in a proportion fixed by the PFC. ii. Developmental
Budget: The entire
development activity in a district is funded through the provincial
A.D.P. The portfolio of development schemes of the district
are in addition to those sponsored and funded by provincial
line departments. The district schemes are funded through;
a. Annual Development
Plan (A.D.P). b. MPA/MNA Schemes-identified
by public representatives. c. Devolved Social
Sector Development these are Aided projects. d. Chief Minister’s
Rural package- through this source each district get Rs.200
million worth of schemes and the C.D.G.K. has a two fold package. iii. Transaction
cost: Although the
revenue hierarchy from Executive District Officer to Mukhtiarkar
(Tehsildar) has seen placed under
the management control of the district Nazim
i.e. district government, but actually, for all other purpose
i.e. transfers, postings, pay package and retirement benefits
the revenue administration of the district, remain beholden
to the provincial government. iv. Resource Mobilization: The district
governments have hardly been able to mobilize resources. At
an average only 5% of the recurring expenses of any given local
government are met through its own means and these are hardly
adequate for the local governments to meet minimum of its requirements
as a result the local governments depend entirely upon the finances
released by the provincial government. In other words transition of manpower has taken place but
resource wise the cost
of maintaining district governments is entirely borne by the
provincial government. 6. Inpediments to reform From the experience of last almost six years, since promulgation
of the S.L.G.O the main hurdle into transformation of the Revenue
Department into the revenue group of offices in
a district can be summed up as under:- i. District cadre: The districts
have not been able to establish a functional district cadre.
This includes not only the revenue group of offices but all
other group of offices, as well. Failure of
the district governments to establish district cadres is a major reason the transition has
not taken its routs. Posting of
choicest persons as Tapedar (Patwari),
as Mukhtiarkar (Tehsildar),
as Deputy District Officer or a District officer has disfigured
the entire system so
much so that these officials
are irresponsive to the direction of the Board
of Revenue and the Services department i.e. administration departments
in all the four categories and eventually a diluted writ of
the provincial government. ii. Permanent
damage: Because of
the reason of posting of officers of choice, recovery of provincial
taxes has suffered. Crop inspection (Partal)
which was the hallmark of the revenue working is not carried
out according to the prescribed percentages hence the demand
of tax and cesses has decreased resultantly,
the total demand for the province has declined. iii. Feedback: Feedback from
the revenue functionaries in respect of assignments given to
them including the required reports even in the court matters
is dismal post devolution. iv. Withdrawal of
magisterial powers: Withdrawal
of magisterial powers has also adversely affected the output
and efficiency of revenue officers.
It has now, before ever become difficult to recover arrears
of jamabandi
and non-jamabani items, as a result,
huge arrears have started accumulating and provincial recovery
is on the decline Besides
issues like removal of encroachments, price control etc have
received a set back. The Judicial
Magistrates do not come under the managerial jurisdiction of
either District Government or the Board of Revenue, hence diarchy
or rather anarchy of powers to effect recovery of arrears of
land revenue. Mukhtiarkars are mostly
amiable to non-administrative influence and pressures. v. Responsibility: As stated
earlier the responsibility of collection of taxes including
raising of demands continue to be with
the revenue group of officers but because the revenue department
has not been devolved, revenue officers are not responsive. 7. Negative
sides i. On the negative
side, taking over management of the revenue officers by district
governments has created a gulf between the provincial and the
district governments because on the one hand officers posted
at the districts respond to the Nazim
and district governments and most of the time do their biddings. Their performance as far the provincial
government is concerned has been compromised. ii. In quantitative
terms transaction cost has been minimal but in qualitative terms
delivery has been effected adversely. iii. The Policy
for grant of land to landless haris
also continue to be on the hold because the earstwhile
Revenue Officers at different Barrages and Deputy Commissioners,
who used to grant land to landless haries,
to the extent of subsistence level before devolution have been
abolished and the new mechanism in its place have not been created
by the district governments. 8. Incentives The district governments have not given any incentive
to the revenue group of officers as stated earlier; i. District governments
have not created district cadres. ii. Facilities
like transport and provision of offices and residential accommodation
specially in the newly created districts still remain the responsibility
of the provincial government. 9. Conclusion The transactional cost with focus on Revenue viz-e-viz. the district government is not relevant here. The
Board of Revenue per-se has not been devolved in the manner
as envisaged in decentralization and devolution plan of N.R.B. |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
