Conditions apply: K-P government demands increase in share of 8th NFC Award

Finance minister Muzaffar Said says allocation for war against militancy be raised to 3%.

PESHAWAR: The Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa government has demanded that the federal government increase the province’s share in the 8th National Finance Commission (NFC) Award which will be constituted after the current award expires in June.

“Since we have been at the forefront of the fight against terrorism, we want the federal government to increase our share of the war on terrorism allocation in the award from 1% to 3%,” said Minister of Finance Muzaffar Said at Civil Secretariat on Monday after a meeting of the Inter-Provincial Coordination Committee held at the finance department.

Said said K-P received an extra 1% in the previous NFC award as a share of war against militancy funds but this time they want the centre to increase the share given the deteriorating law and order in the province.

He added the government would not let anyone take over the rights of K-P’s people.

The displaced people of Federally Administered Tribal Areas and the Afghan refugees are also residing in the province although its share in Public Sector Development Programme is insufficient, said the minister.

He maintained K-P would stand alongside the other two small provinces to strive for their rights, “We are with the desolate people of Sindh and Balochistan whose rights have been violated”.

“The Coalition Support Fund has entitled K-P to a bigger share because of what the province has gone through,” he said, adding the federal government should also give special packages to the province for hosting IDPs and Afghan refugees.

“We are presenting our demands with justifiable arguments” he said. “The NFC award would not be signed by K-P if the centre does not address our demands.”

Published in The Express Tribune, April 28^th, 2015.