First CCI meeting under PM Imran postponed till Sept 24

ISLAMABAD: The session of the Council of Common Interests (CCI) which was supposed to be held tomorrow (September 12) has been postponed. 

Prime Minister Imran Khan was due to chair the meeting attended by the chief ministers of all four provinces and several federal ministers. The meeting will now be held on September 24.

The meeting has reportedly being postponed due to the advent of the month of Muharram. This was supposed to be the first meeting of the CCI since the new government was established in Islamabad.

Last week, the president on the advice of the prime minister reconstituted the CII with effect from August 31. According to a notification, the prime minister is now the chairman of the Council.

The chief ministers of four provinces including Punjab, Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan were included in the Council as members.

Likewise, minister for finance, revenue and economic affairs, minister for inter-provincial coordination, minister for industries and production were also included in the CCI as members.

The meeting was supposed to discuss a range of issue particularly the water challenges including water distribution dispute between provinces.

Last week, Secretary Water Resources Shamail Ahmed Khawaja informed a meeting of the Senate Special Committee on Water Scarcity that the water challenges are on the agenda of the next CCI meeting.

Also read: Murad wants Council of Common Interests to take up all pending issues of Sindh

The committee was discussing current water scarcity issues and its impact on agriculture in detail and was briefed in detail about the water distribution issues, hydropower and water projects and the measures required to resolve these issues.

Under sub-clause 3 of Article 153, the government is bound to call the council at least once in three months. This provision was inserted in the Constitution through the 18th Amendment.

Meanwhile, the government of Sindh is also geared to discussing all pending issues in the CCI meeting particularly the water share of Karachi.

Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah has directed the chief secretary to send a written request to the CCI secretariat to include all the pending issues of the provincial government on the agenda of the meeting.

This includes amendment in the petroleum exploration and production policy 2012, unconstitutional and unauthorised deduction from the provincial consolidated fund (PCF) by the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), allocation of 1,200 cusecs additional water for Karachi, implementation of Article 154 of the Constitution, matters pertaining to higher education and other similar bodies in post-18th amendment scenario, increased representation of provinces in the federal Higher Education Commission (HEC) and import of liquefied natural gas (LNG).