ISLAMABAD: A ruling Pakistan Muslim League-N lawmaker sparked a new controversy on Wednesday when he touched on two delicate subjects in his speech in the Senate.

While taking part in the budget discussion, retired Lt Gen Abdul Qayyum not only called for the construction of dozens of dams, including the Kalabagh dam, on the Indus river, but also proposed to bring back the subject of education devolved to the provinces through the 18th Amendment.

Gen Qayyum pointed out that there were 3,200 dams in India and 22,000 in China.

He claimed that the education sector had deteriorated after it was devolved to the provinces and stressed that the 18th Amendment was not the final word. He pointed out that 103 articles of the Constitution — one-third of the total — had been amended through the 18th Amendment. “If the

1973 Constitution can be so significantly amended, why the 18th Amendment cannot be improved upon,” he remarked.

PPP member opposes proposal, saying three provincial assemblies have already rejected the idea

He said prosperous nations achieved their glory due to education with focus on science and technology. “Education, including technical education, therefore, deserves to be prioritised in Pakistan,” he remarked.

He said disparity in the education sector among the provinces might create a feeling of deprivation, harming national unity and national security. “So it is essential that we put education on the concurrent list for better coordination at least for next 10 years.”

Sassui Palijo of the Pakistan Peoples Party rejected Gen Qayyum’s proposal and said three provincial assemblies had rejected the idea of constructing the Kalabagh dam. “It is an insult of the three legislatures to talk about the project after unanimous resolutions,” she remarked.

While talking to Dawn, former Senate chairman Raza Rabbani noted that education had always been a provincial subject but it had been usurped by the federal government.

“The 18th Amendment has only given effect to a historical position,” he remarked.

Mr Rabbani said since the speech had been made on the floor of the Senate, he would respond to it on the floor of the house in detail in the next two days.

Earlier, Gen Qayyum said the budget was an important financial fact-sheet which highlighted estimated receipts and expected expenditure for the next financial year. There were very few countries in the world which had surplus budgets.

The strongest world economies, including the US, China and Japan, had deficit budgets, he added.

He said loans were not something bad, but these must be prudently utilised for development.

Gen Qayyum said the PPP government had increased external debts by more than 100 per cent, but it did not add even one megawatt of electricity and constructed no major motorway, airport or seaport.

On the contrary, he said, during five years of the PML-N government debts soared by less than 100pc, but 12,230 megawatts of electricity were added to the national grid.

He said an increase in gross domestic products, remittances, foreign direct investment, foreign exchange reserves, stock exchange index and tax collection showed that it was a budged for the poor and not for the rich.

He said agriculture research deserved more allocation of funds than mere Rs5bn.

“The government must review this aspect because in an agrarian society agriculture and industrial sectors are mutually supportive”.

He said pensioners who were war veterans and families of the martyrs deserved attention and stressed that mere 10pc increase in pension was not adequate.

The opposition staged a walkout in protest against absence of Finance Minister Miftah Ismail from the house.

Published in Dawn, May 3rd, 2018