K-P seeks enhanced share under NFC

Demands Rs213b extra to account for population surge after Fata merger

PESHAWAR:

The Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa government has demanded enhanced share under National Finance Commission (NFC) on the ground that its population has increased after the merger of erstwhile Fata five years ago.

The province has demanded Rs213 billion additional funds from the Centre and sources told The Express Tribune that soon after the provincial budget, the caretaker government will requisition a meeting of the NFC to discuss the matter.

“There has been an increase in the total population after the merger and the provincial share of K-P should also be increased to 19.64 per cent with an increase of 5.1 per cent,” said an official of the finance department, adding that the province now demands 19.64 per cent share.

“A case has already been prepared in this regard by the provincial finance minister,” he added.

The seventh NFC award was decided in 2010 and the K-P’s share had been fixed at 14.63 per cent taking into account the population of the province as well as other factors.

Similarly, K-P is also paid one per cent of the national resources per annum due to terrorism.

In 2018, the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) were merged into the K-P province. However, despite this merger, the share of financial resources allocated to the newly merged tribal districts was not provided to K-P. As a result, K-P was burdened with the responsibility of funding the expenses of these newly incorporated tribal districts using its already limited resources.

“Due to the lack of funds, the progress of development is very slow in the tribal districts, causing widespread unrest among local residents,” he said, adding that due to all these issues the caretaker government has decided to requisition NFC meeting to discuss the matter and press its demands.

“Now the province would claim Rs213 additional funds on the ground of its increased population after the merger,” observed the official.

The provincial government has prepared its case on the basis of 2017 census as well as FBR receipts in the year 2022-23.

“The K-P government has claimed that its population before the merger of Fata was 11.33 per cent of the country and after the merger it increased to 14.16 per cent,” he said, adding that now the K-P should get Rs119.91 billion on the ground of population share.

By the same token, the poverty ratio which stood at 2.87 per cent in K-P has increased to 4.71 per cent and the province should be paid Rs78.2 billion additionally.

Furthermore, K-P’s population was 0.18 per cent per square kilometer before the merger and it increased to 0.52 per cent after the merger five years ago.

When contacted, Advisor to CM on Finance, Himayatullah Khan said that soon after the approval of the provincial budget by the caretaker cabinet, the province will call for the meeting of NFC.

“The province cannot afford spending its precious little funds on tribal districts anymore and we are going to demand an enhanced share for K-P due to all these factors,” he said.

It may be recalled that the K-P’ caretaker government had decided to present a surplus budget for the next fiscal year. This move is questioned by experts who are under the impression that the province is faced with a severe economic crisis.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 14^th, 2023.