PESHAWAR: Awami National Party president Asfandyar Wali Khan has said that presenting budget without National Finance Commission (NFC) award is unconstitutional.

In a statement issued here on Monday, he said that according to rules three per cent share of NFC award, reserved for merger of tribal areas with the province and construction of Munda Dam, was not allocated in the current budget.

The ANP chief said that federal government agreed to go for block allocation in the new NFC award so allocation and share for the provinces was expected to increase and resources were to be devolved to the provinces. “However, there is a big question mark on the delay of 8th NFC award,” he added.

Mr Khan said that provinces were nothing more than a beggar owing to unexplained delay in NFC award.

He said that provincial government was not serious and capable that resulted in poverty in the province.

The ANP chief said that the people of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan were living below poverty line.

Had the government provided them the share in the 8th National Finance Commission award as promised, things could have turned to better for the people of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, he added.

Mr Khan said that it was ironic that despite victimised and destroyed by terrorism for years, the federal government did not announce any special package for the province. He added that no mega project was announced in the PSDP.

“On one hand it is failure of the provincial government while on the other it also shows the discrimination of federal government,” said the ANP chief.

He said that such treatment would only increase sense of deprivation and discontent among the people of the province.

Mr Khan said that provincial government should allocate funds for upgradation, distribution lines and transmission lines to provide uninterrupted power to the consumers in the province.

Published in Dawn, May 30th, 2017