THAT the much-touted 10-year development plan for the seven merged districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has failed to take off in its very first year doesn’t show the PTI government in a good light. A report in this newspaper says the federal government had released only Rs37bn in the last fiscal out of the Rs72bn it had pledged under the Tribal Decade Strategy 2030 to fast-track development in the underdeveloped areas. The performance of the provincial government is even worse as it released just Rs1bn out of the Rs11bn it had promised for the uplift of the ex-Fata districts. The actual utilisation of the funds on the ground is believed to be very little compared to the amount released to the departments. Other factors may also have contributed to the extremely slow start of the 10-year development strategy, but non-availability of funds is the major reason for the project’s failure to take off.

In the last two decades or more, the economy of the former Fata districts has taken a serious hit because of the long years of the war against militancy in the region. Vast numbers of residents were left without home and livelihood. The slow start of uplift schemes in these districts means that the people of one of the country’s poorest regions will not have access to schools, hospitals, roads, clean drinking water, and other public services for a longer period than they may have anticipated. More important, many may lose confidence in the government for failing to make good on its commitments. Indeed, Prime Minister Imran Khan is deeply interested in implementing development works in the merged tribal areas. It is, therefore, quite surprising to see the bureaucracy creating hurdles in his plans. The merger of the tribal districts with the settled areas of the province had brought a ray of hope for the people. It is the responsibility of the government to keep their hopes alive by according top priority to the development of this region by removing financial and administrative snags in the way.

Published in Dawn, October 6th, 2020