ISLAMABAD: Former chairman Senate Raza Rabbani has criticized the federal government’s reported decision to freeze the provinces’ share in the divisible pool for the next three years and said the Narowal lobby in the federal cabinet in connivance with the IMF has circumvented the NFC Award and the Constitution 1973.
“The freezing of the share of the provinces from the divisible pool for the next three years means there will be no new NFC Award in viola tion of Article 160, Constitution 1973,” he said in a statement on Wednesday. He said the present NFC Award was announced in 2010 and contin ues till date in violation of the Constitution. Over a period of three years, the depreciation of the rupee will curtail the actual share of the prov inces in violation of Article 160 (3A) of the Con stitution. The federal government is playing off Article 164 against Article 160, something which is dangerous for the constitutional rule.
