South Punjab as a solution
Two recent events — the Punjab-centric nature of current politics in Islamabad, and the PPP chairperson’s recent visit to south Punjab — have redirected attention towards the subject of new…
Preventing deadlock
The seventh National Finance Commission (NFC) Award which became effective on July 1, 2010 managed to break the long-standing deadlock over distribution of national revenues among the provinces. The impasse…
The scriptwriter
Optimists in Pakistan are besieged by a worrying realisation of the fragility of the enormous gains this country has made in the last decade. These gains have been exposed as…
The real dialogue we need
Borrowing the expression from the outstanding writer of mystery fiction and detective stories in Urdu, Ibn-e-Safi, a dear friend and an ardent supporter of Imran Khan asked me the other…
Provincial finances
There are some commonly held perceptions about Provincial governments in Pakistan. First, that the operations of the Four Provincial governments combined are small in relation to the Federal government. Second,…
Nuclear sophistry
Two weeks ago, on June 23, the Indian government announced that it had ratified an agreement it signed with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in 2009 giving inspectors of…
In defence of the provinces
In recent months, the provinces have become the favourite punching bags of Islamabad, donors and commentators alike. They are being chastised for failing to generate adequate resources to fund their…
The challenge of autonomy
July 1, 2011 was designated as the Day of Provincial Autonomy upon the transfer of ministries and mandate of the erstwhile concurrent list to the provinces, in light of the…
Provincial finances
Most analysts still focus on the federal budget not realising that there has been a significant shift in the allocation of fiscal resources towards the provinces. This is what should…
Vision: the missing attribute
In recent years, budget making has been reduced to a ritual; it's glossy but unachievable promises are meant only to incite loud applause from the parliament's treasury benches, and thereafter…
