The Provincial Governments reached consensus on Power Generation Policy 2015, as well as, on several other issues in the 24th Meeting of Inter Provincial Coordination Committee (IPCC) under the chairmanship of Federal Minister for IPC Mian Riaz Hussain Pirzada. The agenda of the meeting included matters regarding power generation and tariff, natural gas related matters and levy of taxes. Furthermore, grievances concerning exorbitant Hajj charges, inadequate arrangements and financial crunch faced by Population Welfare Programme were put forth by the Government of Balochistan. Chairman of the Committee Mr. Pirzada directed the concerned Federal Ministries to take prompt measures to resolve the issues to the full satisfaction of the provinces. He said that Pakistan can only prosper when all provinces reach consensus with the Federation on all outstanding issues. He said that the Federal ministries and departments must take all stakeholders on board while taking policy decisions. While emphasizing the significance of consensus building, he said that IPCC provides a great opportunity for provinces to sit together and solves problems with a view to give relief to the general public. During the course of the meeting, consensus was reached on Power Generation Policy 2015, and a Committee within Ministry of Water and Power was decided to be formed to solve tariff issues. Similarly, a Fact Finding committee to look into Gas issues is to be formed under the chairmanship of Secretary Inter Provincial Coordination, Mr. Muhammad Ali Gardezi. In response to certain observations about the levy of taxes, Finance Ministry’s representative assured that relevant changes will be incorporated in the next budget. Chairman IPCC Mian Riaz Hussain Pirzada took special notice of issues identified by the Balochistan Government. He said that payments for Population Welfare Progamme will be made to Balochistan according to the approved PC-1 of the project. He also gave directions to Ministry of Religious Affairs to consider necessary changes in the Hajj Policy in accordance with the Provincial needs. The high powered meeting was attended by Chief Minister KPK, Chief Secretaries, Secretary Ministry of IPC and Federal Secretaries of the concerned ministries. Provincial Minster Dr. Ayesha Ghaus Pasha and Mr. Abdul Raheem Ziaratwaal represented Punjab and Balochistan respectively.
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