PHC moved for FATA’s funds

A petition has been filed in Peshawar High Court against allegedly depriving the merged districts (ex-FATA and FR regions) in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa {K-P) of billions of rupees as part of their share under the National Finance Commission (NFC) Award.

In the petition, the court has been requested to issue orders to hold a meeting related to the NFC award. It also asked that a meeting of the Council of Common Interest be held immediately under the Constitution. In this petition, former provincial minister Taimur Saleem Jhagra has named the president of Pakistan, the federal government, federal finance secretary, National Finance Commission, Council of Common Interest, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa chief secretary and others as respondents. The petition was filed through Advocate Ali Gohar Durrani.

The position taken in the petition is that the areas of FATA have been in the grip of terrorism for the past several decades. It stated that there has been a lot of loss of life and property in these areas which have yet to see any significant progress.

In 2018, the FATA and FR regions were formally merged into Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa through the 25th amendment. The petition said that on the recommendation of the FATA Reforms Committee, it was decided that the federation will pay Rs90 billion annually to the merged districts under the NFC. The aim was that these areas can be developed and their people brought into the national mainstream.

“However, the federal government has not fulfilled its constitutional responsibility in this regard,” the application read. It also stated that that after the merger, financial, administrative and other affairs of these areas fall under the authority of the province.