Centre signals Rs20b release under AIP

Iqbal backs K-P's NFC stance over merged districts

PESHAWAR:

Tensions between the Centre and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa over funding for the merged tribal districts appeared to ease on Tuesday, as the federal government signaled the release of Rs20 billion under the Accelerated Implementation Programme (AIP).

Moreover, Islamabad also assured the provincial authorities of early disbursement of an additional Rs9.3 billion for high-impact projects.

The breakthrough came during a joint steering committee on the AIP for the merged tribal districts which was chaired by Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi and attended among others by Federal Minister for Planning Ahsan Iqbal. The meeting was held at the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa House in Islamabad.

The chief minister, while welcoming the federal government's move, made the record straight by stating that the federal government has not yet to release a single penny under the AIP during the current fiscal year.

Since becoming the provincial chief executive in October last year, Afridi has repeatedly accused the federal government of stalling the release of funds allocated for K-P, particularly those committed for the merged districts under the National Finance Commission (NFC).

Last week, the provincial government had requested the Centre to revise the NFC resource distribution formula and, if needed, to institute discretionary grants for all provinces pending the emergence of a consensus on formula updates.

The K-P government also walkout from the NFC subgroup on merged areas meeting held last Thursday after the other three provinces refused to include the region's population in the new resource distribution formula, which could have increased K-P's share from the existing 14.62 per cent to 18.96 per cent.

In Tuesdays joint committee meeting, fast-tracking of development projects in tribal districts were discussed.

Federal Minister for Planning Ahsan Iqbal, while participating in the meeting, stated that letters regarding the NFC share of the tribal districts have already been sent to the prime minister.

He stressed that denying the tribal districts their rightful share was unjust and that Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa should be provided its full financial resources. He added that since the population of the merged districts was now part of K-P, fair allocation of financial resources was necessary.

During the briefing, it was shared that the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa government has already provided Rs30.3 billion as bridge financing for accelerated development projects.

The chief minister said that the funds would be utilised to improve police infrastructure in the merged districts and to complete high-priority projects nearing completion.

The chief Minister emphasised that given the current law and order situation in the merged districts, development and investment were a prerequisite. He added that the provincial government was ready to play its role in ensuring that the solarization of homes project benefits as many people as possible.

He further stated that Rs28 billion has already been provided to enhance capacity of police and to equip them with modern weapons and equipment.

He also noted that the tribal districts have historically been neglected, and even after the merger, their resources are being distributed among other provinces. Over the past seven years, Rs1,375 billion allocated for tribal districts under the NFC has been distributed to other provinces.