PESHAWAR: The sector-wise allocations in the Annual Development Programme for the newly-merged tribal districts of the defunct Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) has shrunk owing to the extension of new departments and attached directorates to the area.

The size of ADP for the merged districts for financial year 2018-19 was Rs24 billion that covered around 20 different sectors.

As the tribal districts have become part of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the provincial government has extended 19 new departments and more than 40 directorates to them.

Nevertheless, the size of the 2019-20 ADP is still Rs24 billion, show the budgetary documents.

Interestingly, the tribal area and tribal agency — a name that still is stuck somewhere so deep into the psyche of those, who prepared this document, that they not only simply employed the ‘cut and paste’ policy, at some points they also forgot to change the word ‘agency’ to the district while preparing the ADP document for the areas that have been merged with the province.

Official insists Tribal Decade Strategy to address ‘deficiencies’ in different sectors

A deeper look into the details of budgetary estimates discloses that the contradictions are even starker.

In case of the education sector alone, the budget for elementary and secondary education was Rs4.08 billion in 2018-19.

Now as former Fata has entered the provincial fold, the higher education institutions — earlier non-existent — have been extended to the tribal areas.

However, the ADP’s figure witnessed a minor increase for education sector in the new ADP.

A total of Rs4.23 billion has been earmarked for elementary, secondary and higher education, showing Rs154.7 million increase against the previous financial year.

Higher education has been allocated Rs549.3 million. The size of ADP has shrunk with the extension of 16 new departments and attached directorates to the tribal districts.

Like education, the extension of new departments has also reduced the share of ADP for basic health. The government has included two new components in health budget, including medical education, training and preventive programme.

The health sector has been allocated Rs1.75 billion in the new ADP against Rs1.63 billion in the previous budget.

Before merger, only six departments, including administration, infrastructure and coordination, finance law and order, planning and development, production and livelihood development and social sectors overseeing health and education and attached directorates operated in 20 different sectors and sub-sectors in the defunct Fata.

These departments and directorates were funded by the finance division through the Ministry of State and Frontier Region (Safron).

After taking administrative control of the defunct Fata, the KP government extended powers and functions of the new departments to merged districts.

Under the new administrative arrangements, the board of revenue, energy and power, higher education, excise and taxation, home, water, population welfare, food, environment, tourism, archeology, wildlife, science and technology, law and justice, information, labour, local government, relief and rehabilitation, industries and transport have been extended to the erstwhile Fata.

Allocations for other sectors like forestry, roads, fisheries, social welfare and livestock have been minimised due to the extension of new departments and directorates.

The directorate of social welfare has been allocated Rs262.657 million in the current ADP against Rs306 million in the previous one.

The forestry sector was given Rs816 million in the previous ADP, while in the new ADP, its share is Rs830 million.

Forestry has been divided into four sub-sectors: forestry, Pakistan Forest Institute (PFI), sericulture and wildlife. The PFI Peshawar has been allocated Rs5 million.

The road sector has been earmarked Rs3.88 billion in the new ADP against Rs4.08 billion in the previous ADP.

As the ADP has been divided into three parts, Rs20.9 billion is for 33 different sectors for completion of 1,018 new and ongoing schemes, Rs3.06 billion for Merged Areas Development Authority, and Rs59 billion block allocation for the Tribal Decade Strategy (TDS) that also includes the Rs11 billion provincial share for the Accelerated Implementation Plan (AIP).

The federal share in TDS is Rs48 billion.

A senior functionary told Dawn that intervention through the multibillion rupees TDS would cover deficiencies in different sectors.

He said the provincial cabinet had approved TDS in last May.

The official said the cabinet would approve Rs59 billion in its next meeting likely to be held on Aug 9.

“TDS is a broad strategy and different departments will intervene in 20 different sectors through AIP,” he said, adding that education would get major share followed by health, roads, sports and youth, forestry, rule of law and tourism.

He said PC-I for various projects had been prepared under AIP.

“Execution phase of these projects would be started after release of funds from the federal government,” he said.

The officials said the KP government had received Rs10 billion under TDS during the previous financial year of which Rs6.33 billion had been for energy and power sector, and Rs1.1 billion for Insaf Rozgar Scheme (interest-free loan programme for youth) and opening of Rescue 1122 in Khyber district and Kohat subdivision.

Published in Dawn, August 8th, 2019