ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Finance Shaukat Tarin has assured a special parliamentary committee that he will take up the issue of promised National Finance Commission (NFC) share for the recently merged tribal districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa with all the provinces.

The assurance was given by the minister during a meeting of the Special Committee on Development of erstwhile Fata, said an official handout issued here on Tuesday.

During the meeting, the minister briefed the committee about his resolution to expedite efforts for developing a consensus among all provinces for allocation of three per cent share from the divisible pool of 10th NFC Award. The erstwhile Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) needed special focus due to its strategic location and 30 years of sufferings, the minister said.

Taking notice of the stalled process of compensation in South Waziristan, the committee unanimously decided to move a resolution for speedy mechanism of compensation to the war-affected people. The committee members raised objections to the spending mechanism on projects in the tribal districts.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Minister for Health and Finance Taimur Saleem Khan informed the committee members about the allocation of Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP) funds for projects in the tribal districts. The KP government was cognisant of the harsh circumstances being faced by the people of tribal areas, he said.

The provincial minister assured the committee members that the KP government would ensure all possible ways and means to resolve the issues being faced by the people living in ex-Fata.

Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf lawmaker Junaid Akbar, who heads the special committee, appreciated National Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser for his support and visit to Punjab to help develop a consensus on the issue of NFC share for tribal areas. Members of the committee, too, would visit Balochistan and Sindh in this regard, he announced.

Prominent among those who attended the meeting were Khurram Dastgir Khan, Dr Aisha Ghaus Pasha, Mohsin Dawar, Zille Huma, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Establishment Arbab Shahzad, Adviser to the PM on Overseas Pakistanis Ayub Afridi and Senator Dost Muhammad Khan.

Published in Dawn, February 23rd, 2022