PESHAWAR, Sept 1: NWFP Governor’s Fata secretariat has granted financial powers to agency development sub-committees in seven tribal agencies and six frontier regions, officials said.

An official of the secretariat termed the empowerment of the sub-committees a step towards “financial decentralization” in the tribal region to expedite the pace of development.

The official said the sub-committees in the tribal agencies would be headed by political agents and district coordination officers would lead those in the frontier regions.

The committees have been empowered to approve development schemes worth Rs40 million.

Earlier, the defunct Fata Development Corporation, which was replaced by  the secretariat, was supposed to design and approve development schemes.

The executing agencies of the projects would be accountable to the political agents and DCOs.

Under the new arrangements, sources said, schemes costing between Rs40 million and Rs60 million would be approved by the department sub-committee, presided over by the secretary to the governor.

Schemes estimated  to cost between Rs 60 million and Rs200 million would  be approved by the provincial development working party, headed by additional secretary, while projects costing above Rs200 million would be approved by the federal government, the official said.