ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan on Wednesday chaired the 44th meeting of the Council of Common Interest (CCI) here in Islamabad, ARY News reported.
The meeting, attended by all chief ministers, agreed over establishing CCI’s permanent secretariat as required under Article 154(3) of the Constitution.
It would be for the first time that a permanent secretariat of the CCI being established to meet the long-overdue constitutional requirement.
The matter related to notifying census-2017 results also came under discussion in the meeting. The participants of the meeting decided to hold a virtual meeting on Monday to take a final decision on the issue.
On the issue of import of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) and implementation of Article 158 and 172(3) of the constitution, it was decided to constitute a committee comprising of minister for planning, minister for energy and special assistant to PM for power and petroleum
The committee will hold consultations with the provinces. The CCI also approved amendments in petroleum (exploration and production) policy 2012.
Moreover, the implementation report of the previously taken decisions of CCI was also presented before the meeting. The meeting also approved NEPRA’s annual report for 2019-20 and state of industry report 2020.
In order to further improve ease of doing business and harmonization of quality and standards across the country, it was decided that provinces will notify harmonized standards set by Pakistan Standard & Quality Control Authority (PSQCA) by repealing their own standards.
It was decided during the meeting that Higher Education Commission (HEC) would be the sole standard setting national organization with regards to higher education in the country.
On the issue of distribution of Zakat funds to the provinces/federal areas in wake of 25th constitutional amendment, the meeting, while agreeing on Zakat distribution fund formula, decided that after merger of FATA into Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, Zakat funds for the area, as per agreed formula, would be transferred to KP province.
The CCI’s 44th meeting was attended by Chief Minister Punjab Sardar Usman Buzdar, Chief Minister Sindh Syed Murad Ali Shah, Chief Minister Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Mahmood Khan, Chief Minister Balochistan Jam Muhammad Kamal Khan, federal ministers and high authorities.
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