Sindh govt to form its own Evacuee Trust Property Board

In accordance with the powers devolved to the provinces under the 18th constitutional amendment, the Sindh government is all set to establish its own Evacuee Trust Property Board (ETPB) to get control of and manage evacuee properties across the province, which hitherto remain under the management of a similar ETPB of the federal administration.

In this regard, a bill titled ‘The Sindh Evacuee Trust Properties (Management and Disposal) Bill 2019’ has been prepared and will likely be introduced in the current session of the Sindh Assembly.

The enactment of the proposed law after its passage from the provincial assembly will repeal the application of the ‘Evacuee Trust Properties (Management and Disposal) Act 1975’ in Sindh.

The statement of objects and reasons of the proposed law states: “In view of the abolition of the Concurrent Legislative List by the Eighteenth Amendment in the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, the subject ‘evacuee property trust’ is not enumerated in the Part-I and II of the Federal Legislative Lists of the Fourth Schedule to the Constitution of Islamic Republic of Pakistan; therefore, the subject falls within the provincial domain and the Provincial Assembly is competent to enact a law in the subject matter as provided by Article 142(c) of the Constitution. It is expedient to enact a law in the subject matter at provincial level.”

The proposed law envisages establishment of a 14-member Sindh Evacuee Trust Property Board, including a chairman who will be appointed by the chief minister of the province.

The bill defines that an eminent person of known integrity and competence in the field of social work can be appointed as chairman of the proposed provincial board. The chairman of the said board will hold the office for a period of four years, which can be extended for another term.

Other members of the proposed ETPB include three members of the Sindh Assembly to be nominated by the speaker of the provincial legislature; senior member, Board of Revenue; secretaries of the provincial government’s departments of law, local government, home and minorities; commissioner or deputy commissioner of the relevant division or district; a retired civil servant of grade 20 or above to be nominated by the CM; and a member of the civil society also to be nominated by the chief executive.

The federal government earlier constituted its ETPB being its statutory body to administer evacuee properties across the country, including educational, charitable or religious trust left behind by Hindus and Sikhs who had migrated to India after partition of the Indian subcontinent. It also maintains and upkeeps places of worship belonging to Hindus and Sikhs in Pakistan.

Once the new bill is enacted in the province, the control and management of all the properties of the Evacuee Trust Property Board Pakistan will be devolved to the proposed provincial board.

Hindu chairman

Dr Ramesh Kumar Vankwani, a Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf MNA and the founder of the Pakistan Hindu Council, said that the constitution of a provincial ETPB is a welcome move for the minorities in the province.

He said the Pakistan Peoples Party ruling in the province should appoint a chairman of the proposed provincial board belonging to the Hindu community, preferably having sound bureaucratic experience, as this will fulfil a longstanding demand of the religious minorities in the country.

“In case PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari announces appointing a chairman of the proposed provincial evacuee trust property board from the Hindu community, the Pakistan Hindu Council will definitely support such a move,” said Dr Vankwani.

He said that for the past several months the federal government has failed to appoint a chairman of its ETPB, and that the affairs of the board have been in a shambles, so the constitution of a provincial board will hopefully streamline and regulate the issues related to properties and worship places of the Hindu community in Sindh that have been in a disarray for the past several years.

Dr Kahtu Mal Jeewan, a special assistant to the Sindh CM, said that the constitution of the provincial ETPB is very much in line with the 18th constitutional amendment, as one such provincial board has already been constituted in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

He hopes that the affairs related to the massive evacuee trust properties in the province belonging to the Hindu community will be managed in a better way, much to the satisfaction of the minority community, with the constitution of the provincial board.