Page:Hong Kong Basic Law consultation report vol. 1.djvu/166

 discrimination; it was only that when enforcing the policies, differences among the allocations could have been caused by the shortage of resources.

5.1.6 A member objected to the addition of the provision. With the addition of the provision, the expenditure on subvention may be increased in the light of economic conditions and social needs, but this provision also applies to the reduction of expenditure in the light of economic conditions and social needs. The member held that there was no need to impose restrictions on the government by legal provisions. An effective government will appropriately allocate funds for subvention in the light of economic conditions and social needs.

5.1.7 A member held that if the provision was added to Article 143, then the first sentence of Article 144 should also be amended to read: "On the basis of the policies of the previous social system mentioned above, the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, shall..." in order to avoid repeating social welfare alone.

5.1.8 A member noted the distinction between Article 143 and Article 144: Article 143 is on government subventions for non-governmental organizations whereas Article 144 concerns the whole subvention system.

5.1.9 A member held that fields to be subvented by the HKSAR Government should not be restricted by a constitutional instrument as an efficient government would surely know how to invest in different fields.

5.1.10 A member held that the wording of this article had already ensured that the HKSAR Government would give subventions to different fields. Unless there is evidence that the "policy previously practised" mentioned in this article will rule out the possibility of improvement, such an amendment will be inappropriate.

5.2 A member suggested that the term "science and technology" should be added after "education" in Article 143. However, a member doubted whether the subvention policy for science and technology had already been provided for in Article 138.

5.3 A member held that although Article 135 clearly specified that the HKSAR Government shall, on its own, formulate policies on the development and improvement of education, this article had not been phrased in the same manner. It is therefore uncertain whether the subvention policy to be practised after 1997 will imply improvement or not.

6. Article 144

6.1 A member proposed that the clause "and subvention 164