Compensation: Govt urged to ease relief criteria

Say they will not pay taxes on transport fares if it does not assist them

HANGU: Tribal elders of Orakzai Agency have urged the government to relax the criteria for rehabilitation and relief as returning families have been facing difficulties in obtaining compensation.

This was said during a jirga in Hangu. Tribal elders from 18 tribes and other representatives were in attendance.

Participants said 0.1 million CNICs of displaced families from Orakzai Agency have been blocked by National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA). According to participants, these unregistered families were facing difficulties accessing monetary relief from the government. They urged the government to register them so they could obtain their compensation money easily.

The tribal elders also pressed officials of FATA Development Authority (FDA) to ease the criteria of issuing relief to unregistered families. They asked them not to demand CNICs while distributing relief. Tribal elders said the government needs to issue the survey report immediately and hasten the rehabilitation process.



Tribespeople also requested FDA officials to cooperate with them in holding peaceful jirgas for displaced families.

They also said there was a reciprocal relationship between the government and displaced families. Since the government had failed to provide ease to displaced families, the latter will not pay taxes levied on  transport fares.

Muttahida Qabail Party Vice Chairperson Malik Habib Noor Orakzai, National Assembly member Dr Ghazi Gulab Jamal and Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam member Maulana Hussain Jalali addressed participants on the occasion.

At least 2,800 families of Upper Orakzai Agency and over 200 families of Lower Orakzai Agency returned home during the last week of April.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 3^rd, 2016.