Rs146m Zakat fund allocated for NMTDs

ISLAMABAD: The National Assembly (NA) Standing Committee on States and Frontier Regions (SAFRON) was informed on Thursday that as much as Rs146.268 million have been allocated for a Zakat fund for the newly merged tribal districts (NMTDs) of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P).

During the meeting, the Pakistan Medical Commission (PMC) secretary briefed the committee on the implementation status of its previous recommendations regarding doubling quota for students from NMTDs at medical and dental colleges across the country.

The official said that a notification for doubling seats at colleges in all provinces has already been issued, except for Balochistan. The members of the committee appreciated the PMC secretary, Higher Education Commission (HEC) as well as Ministry of SAFRON secretary for their efforts and cooperation in addressing the issue.

Committee member Muhammad Iqbal Khan complained that problems of NMTDs are not being solved. He added that matters are still being decided through jirgas there while elected representatives are not being taken into confidence.

MNA Gul Zafar Khan said that the population of Bajaur is 1.1 million and as many as 1.7 million domiciles have been made there in the past 15 years.

The ministry’s secretary said that holding two domiciles at a time is prohibited. 

Published in The Express Tribune, January 24^th, 2020.