ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Planning Ahsan Iqbal on Tuesday asked for reversal of major criteria for resources distribution formula under the National Finance Commission (NFC) Award. He argued the criteria of population and poverty were regressive and incentivised the provinces wrongly.
Minister Ahsan Iqbal made these remarks on the occasion of launch of Asian Infrastructure 2025 report authored by the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) here. The event was organised in collaboration with the Pakistan Institute of Development Economics (PIDE).
Replying to a question on the criteria of NFC formula, the minister said there was a dire need to reverse the existing resources distribution formula of NFC. It was regressive to incentivise increased population as criteria with major weightage to distribute the resource, he explained.
He said there would be incentive for the provinces to increase their population instead of curtailing population growth. The second criteria for resources distribution was prevalence of poverty instead of elimination of poverty, he said. “We are discussing with the provinces to make changes in the NFC formula,” the minister said and added it could not be done without consensus, but at least debate must start to sort out thorny issues.
On this occasion, the AIIB’s lead economist Dr Jang Pang Thia made a presentation on the report.
The AIIB report titled, “Infrastructure for planetary health”, says in South Asia, countries like India, Pakistan and Bangladesh have experienced some of deadliest heatwaves, with temperatures often exceeding 45C (113 degrees Fahrenheit).
Southeast Asian nations, such as Thailand and Viet Nam face the dual challenges of rising temperatures and high humidity, making heatwaves particularly dangerous. Notable events include 2015 heatwave in India, which claimed over 2,200 lives, and a simultaneous heatwave in Karachi, Pakistan, resulting in over 1,200 deaths, the report said.
In 2016, the region experienced record-breaking temperatures, with Phalodi, India, reaching 51C, affecting 330 million people. The trend has continued, and since May 2024, India and Pakistan have been grappling with their longest recorded heatwave, setting new temperature records in New Delhi (49C) and parts of Pakistan (52.2C).
Rapid urbanisation across many countries in the region, particularly India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Indonesia, has led to development of urban heat islands — areas within cities that experience significantly higher temperatures than surrounding rural regions, the report said. For instance, cities like New Delhi, Dhaka, Jakarta and Karachi regularly experience temperature spikes due to urban heat island effects.
