Nation united to foil conspiracies against FATA merger: PM

Imran Khan stresses the need to educate tribal people regarding benefits of the merger

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan on Friday said some forces were working against the FATA merger and misguiding people with their nefarious designs.

"The nation stands united against their designs," he said while chairing a high level meeting at the PM House, called to review progress on the merger of tribal areas with Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and the administrative issues.

The prime minister stressed upon the need to educate tribal people regarding benefits of the merger. The administrative reforms should be done in a way that does not create difficulties for the people, said the prime minister, adding that the tribal areas are far behind than other areas of the country and efforts should be made to bring them at par.

The federal government will play its role in getting the area its due share in the NFC award, he said.



The meeting was attended by Minister for Religious Affairs Noorul Haq Qadri, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Governor Shah Farman and K-P Chief Minister Mehmood Khan among senators, parliamentarians and government officials.

The meeting was briefed that in the light of PM Imran's instructions, many of the departments of the FATA secretariat including education, zakat, usher, social welfare and population control have already been shifted to K-P province.

It was informed that a special committee to design a 10-year development plan for FATA, headed by K-P CM, has been set up. The federal government has also approved Rs1.1 billion for the provision of Sehat Sahulat Card for the poor under the PM's national health programme.

A notification to hold the tribal areas tax free for five years has been issued and the FATA annual development programme 2018-19 has also been approved, according to the briefing. The meeting was also informed that the boundary demarcations of the merged areas is underway and will be completed by December.