National Highway Council stays headless

Author: By Rana Mushtaq

ISLAMABAD: The National Highway Council, which lays down national policies and guidelines to be followed by the National Highway Authority (NHA) in the performance of its functions, has become ineffective due to the absence of the in-charge minister in the Ministry of Communications.

Since there is no minister, meetings of one of the most important government functionaries responsible for policymaking and appointment of the NHA chairman could not be held.

The prime minister has kept the charge of the Communications Ministry to himself without making any formal announcement.

Former communications minister Abdul Hakeem Baloch not only resigned from the slot over not being given any authority but also left the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and joined the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP).

The Ministry of Communication has a substantial share in the federal budget, and during the current financial year an amount of Rs 55 billion was set aside for it.

However, despite a lapse of several months, the government did not appoint any state minister.

Though the charge of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was also with the premier, two advisers are looking after the affairs of the Foreign Office. However, no adviser has been designated for the Ministry of Communications. As a matter of fact, two members of the Sharif family are running its day-to-day affairs.

As the council meeting is not being held, the government is giving approval to mega projects without any deliberations. According to sources, some illegal steps were also being taken while according approval to those ‘development plans’.

A senior official told Daily Times on the condition of anonymity that in the absence of the council, all projects of the NHA could be declared null and void, because as per the law, the NHA chairman’s appointment requires the approval of the council. When this scribe repeatedly tried to contact NHA Chairman Shahid Ashraf Tarar, he did not respond. A subordinate officer told this reporter that the chairman did not want to talk to the media.