FATA merger: K-P’s bureaucrats urge keeping Khasadars, finance package intact

Call for regularising jirgas as lower courts with high courts as appellate authority

PESHAWAR: Following a demand from tribal elders, bureaucrats in the province have now thrown their hat in the ring for keeping the status of Khasadar forces intact while honouring the financial commitments made to the residents of erstwhile tribal areas.

This was suggested in a letter by officers of the Provincial Civil Services (PCS) group sent to the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) Chief Minister and governor about their recommendations on the administrative transition for the newly merged districts from the erstwhile federally administered tribal areas (Fata) in the province.

The letter, sent to the K-P government on Wednesday, states that the recommendations have been framed following consultation amongst the officers of the PCS group and officers of the Pakistan Administrative Services (PAS).

“Civil servants from the PMS (Provincial Management Services), PCS and PAS — being responsible for the overall administration of the erstwhile Fata — feel obliged to advise the government in this regard,” reads the letter.

The civil officers stated that people of the tribal districts have been neglected for decades in terms of development.

The primary hope is that when they are merged into K-P, it will usher them into an era of development. Moreover, they hoped that the federal government is committed to developing the tribal areas and provide the Rs1 trillion which was slated to be earmarked for them with Rs100 billion provided each year for 10 years.

They request the federal government to honour their financial commitment to gain the trust of the people.

They also recommended that the government keep the levies and Khasadar forces intact since the local population is still apprehensive about the extension of the police into the districts.

“It can lead to an untoward situation if the extension is done unilaterally,” the letter warns as it referred to what happened in Malakand where the levies are responsible for maintaining routine law and order situation.

“The levy force may be strengthened on functional lines (watch and ward, investigation and intelligence etc) with a proper hierarchy under the administrative control of directorate of the levy,” the civil officers suggested.

They further recommended keeping the jirga system and establishing a separate high court as an appellate authority over the jirgas decisions besides taking suo moto actions when needed.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 18^th, 2018.