08 October 2004	Friday	22 Shaban 1425

PESHAWAR, Oct 7: The Frontier assembly on Thursday admitted an adjournment motion for a full debate, denouncing the 'discriminatory' and an 'unjust' attitude of Islamabad towards the province.

Tabling the motion, Abdul Akbar Khan of the People's Party Parliamentarians said that during their recent visits to Balochistan, Sindh and Punjab, President Pervez Musharraf and Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz had announced special development packages for those provinces. But, he regretted, the centre had ignored the NWFP which, he said was one of the poorest federating units.

He said the prime minister had announced Rs3 billion for Balochistan's rehabilitation and development projects on Oct 1 in Quetta. Earlier, Gen Musharraf announced a Rs28 billion package for Sindh, he said, adding that the prime minister then sanctioned Rs1 billion for the development work to be carried out in Federally Administered Tribal Areas.

He pointed out that Fata had a Rs6 billion development outlay, while the NWFP (settled areas), with 13 per cent of the population, had only Rs2 billion for its annual development programme.

Fata, he continued, had a separate secretariat to run its projects in different tribal agencies. However, the NWFP government, which had no administrative access to Fata, had to pay for administrative expenditures of the Fata political administration.

"Why the province, which has no say in Fata affairs, makes allocations for the Governor's House in its budget?" he asked. The MPA said he had no grudge against anybody but was only taking up the issue to highlight the injustice the NWFP had been subjected to by depriving it of its share in the development funds.

He said the NWFP was being denied its net hydel profit which, according to the AGN Kazi formula, was a settled issue and added that it was the duty of Islamabad to grant a special amount for the province "where more than 40 per cent of people are living below the poverty line".

Speaker Bakht Jehan Khan admitted the motion for a full debate in the current session. Earlier, deputy speaker Ikramullah Shahid and some opposition lawmakers indirectly criticized the speaker for removing the Shariat (Amendment) Bill from the day's agenda under the government pressure.

They described the step as unfair. Mr Shahid said he had submitted the Shariat (Amendment) Bill with the speaker's secretariat on Sept 10. He said being the acting speaker in the absence of the speaker he had put the bill on the agenda for Oct 7. But, he added, the speaker referred it to the law department for its opinion which was 'unfair' and 'unlawful'.

Industries Minister Malik Zafar Azam said Mr Shahid had issued anti-government statements and made him controversial in the absence of the speaker. He endorsed the removal of the bill from agenda.

Anwar Kamal Khan of the Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) and Mr Akbar Khan rejected the stand of Mr Azam and urged him to take his words back. The speaker reserved his ruling on the matter, saying he would it read out later.

The house adopted 10 resolutions calling for a stern action against drug-traffickers, establishment of a Federal Shariat Court circuit bench in Malakand, electrification of villages on the MPAs' recommendation, restoration of selection grade of government employees, an end to self-finance scheme and restoration of the merit system in educational institutions, closure of cinema houses and cable TV network during Ramazan, an extended Ruet-i-Hilal committee meeting, timely payment of salaries to grade IV employees, setting up of a Nadra office at tehsil Ghazi, Haripur; and upgradation of Dagar sub-jail as the district jail. The chair, later, adjourned the session till Friday.