Previous Awards
SINCE 1973, after the promulgation of a consensus constitution by an elected and popular government, there have been three national finance commission awards enforced in 1974, 1991 and in 1997. But the three NFCs constituted in 1979, 1984 and 2,000 failed to reach consensus and ended in a deadlock.
Of the three commissions that failed, two were formed in 1979 and in 1984 during the military rule of late General Zia-ul-Haq and the third one, the current NFC was formed in the year 2,000 after General Musharraf took over the government in October 1999. This NFC continued functioning after the October 2002 elections with some changes in its composition.
The first NFC award was given in 1974 by the elected government of late Z.A. Bhutto. This award set population as the only criterion for revenue distribution among the provinces. Custom duties, the main revenue earner was kept out of the divisible pool and the sales tax was completely federalized.
The second NFC award was given in 1991 by a political government of PML headed by Mian Nawaz Sharif. This NFC award recognised for the first time, the rights of the provinces on natural resources and the provinces were given royalty and gas development surcharge on oil and gas.
And the third NFC award was declared in February 1997 by a caretaker government of Farooq Ahmed Leghari and Prime Minister late Malik Meraj Khalid. It turned out to be the most controversial NFC award, though still operative, despite the expiry of its five- year term in 2002.
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