NFC weightage – Newspaper – DAWN.COM

The NFC Award has long needed over halls. The government’s proposal to lose weight in the distribution method is welcome. For a long time, an unprecedented emphasis on the size of the population – a great 82PC of the formula – has promoted population growth, while no meaningful improvement has been seen in public welfare, especially health and education. A more balanced approach, which considers factors such as poverty, revenue production and regional backwardness, is essential for equal and sustainable development. The world’s highest population growth rate in Pakistan is 2.8PC and cannot afford a distribution system that encourages further expansion at the expense of progress. Our dilapidated health infrastructure highlights the failure of our approach. Instead of reinforcing the outdated model, a revised formula of the NFC must ensure that resources are allocated where they can have the most effect.

Although the need to eliminate the rapid population is undeniable, just adjusting the NFC formula will not overcome the birth rate. Social commitment, such as poverty, illiteracy and inadequate health care, will need policy interference. He said, reducing the weight of the population could impose financial discipline on the provinces and forced them to increase their tax base rather than rely on federal handouts. Critics may argue that changing the formula represents the Center’s attempt to withdraw resources from the provinces. However, one should also consider that a restored NFC award will reduce the financial burden at the center to play a more effective role in national health and population policy. In addition, as these pages have already noted, the provinces themselves will be willing to re -consider the quality of provincial sharing. The desire for adjustment is not a problem. The government has been reluctant to call for a comprehensive NFC dialogue since 2015. The time has come for the center and the provinces to be involved in a meaningful dialogue to develop a better, resource distribution framework.

Dawn, appeared on March 19, 2025