ISLAMABAD: The Natio­nal Implementation Commi­ttee on Fata Reforms has directed the finance minister to seek approval of the National Finance Com­mission (NFC) for the allocation of a share from the divisible pool for Fata over the next 10 years.

The directives were issued by the committee during a meeting presided over by Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi here on Tuesday.

The meeting of the committee had been convened to review the progress on the implementation of the reforms in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas which had already been approved by the federal cabinet.

The meeting was atten­ded by Chief of the Army Staff Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa, Minister for States and Frontier Regions reti­red Lt Gen Abdul Qadir Baloch, Law Minister Zahid Hamid, Deputy Chairman of Planning Commission Sartaj Aziz, Khyber Pakh­tunkhwa Governor Iqbal Zafar Jhagra, KP Chief Minister Pervez Khattak and other senior civil and military officials, according to an official handout issued by the Prime Minister Office.

The committee members noted that a high-level committee had already been set up to prepare a 10-year plan for the socio-economic development of Fata. In this context, it directed the finance minister to seek, as a matter of priority, the endorsement of the NFC to the proposal to allocate a share from the divisible pool for Fata.

The committee also reviewed the progress on legal reforms and noted that a bill to extend the jurisdiction of the high court and Supreme Court to Fata had already been tabled in the National Assembly.

It directed the law minister to expedite the passage of the bill through both houses of Parliament and also initiate other legal and administrative measures so that the normal judicial system could be extended to Fata as early as possible and its people could enjoy the same fundamental and other rights which were available to people in the rest of Pakistan.

The committee also directed that all administrative actions to set up agency courts and to expand the capacity of various law enforcement agencies in Fata should be taken expeditiously in consultation with the superior judiciary.

Taking note of different viewpoints on Fata Reforms, the committee carried out an in-depth review of the issues raised and concluded that there was widespread support for the merger of Fata with KP. However, the members were of the view that many legal and administrative actions would be required before this important reform could be given a practical shape.

The committee was informed that the task of repatriation of the Temporary Displaced Persons (TDPs) and their rehabilitation had been completed and the required administrative, law enforcement and security personnel were being deployed. The committee will continue to review progress of these actions at its future meetings.

The committee members observed that Fata Reforms involved four different dimensions — political mainstreaming, legal mainstreaming, economic mainstreaming and security mainstreaming. These were interdependent and, therefore, have to be carefully planned and dovetailed. “Each has its own administrative and financial implications. Reforms efforts in the past have not been very successful because they did not adopt this holistic view of the process,” says the handout.

Published in Dawn, October 18th, 2017