PESHAWAR: The federal government has reduced the development budget of the tribal districts by Rs35 billion despite its backwardness and decades of deprivation.
For the current financial year, the federal government has allocated a total of Rs163 billion for non-development and development projects in the tribal districts. Of which Rs83bn is allocated for development works: Rs72bn to be provided by the federal government and Rs11bn by the provincial government.
The KP government has released Rs11bn for the tribal districts in the current financial year’s development program while the federal has released Rs33bn out of its Rs83 billion in the current financial year. Only Rs13bn has been spent so far.
According to KP Finance Department sources, the provincial government is facing a deficit of Rs39bn in the development budget for the tribal districts. Now, the federal government has cut the budget of tribal districts and the Rs1,244 billion uplift program seems to be in jeopardy.
Mohsin Dawar, member of the National Assembly from North Waziristan tribal district, told Pakistan Today that after the merger, both the federal and provincial provinces are exploiting the tribal areas.
on one side, the federal government failed to release the funds, while on the other hand, the KP government has failed to spend the allocation on uplift projects.
MNA Dawar said that out of Rs32 billion allocated for IDPs in tribal districts, Rs15.15 billion was returned by the federation to the defence, while Ra5bn out of Rs10b earmarked for tribal youth has been returned on the pretext of insecurity.
“We demand the federal government for constitutional protection for the funds allocated for tribal districts,” Dawar said. He added that the NFC share of the tribal area should also be provided constitutional protection.
KP government will present its second budget after the merger tribal districts on June 19. But due to cuts in the federal government’s uplift fund and the lack of consensus on 3 per cent NFC for the ex-FATA regions, new and ongoing projects included in the development program of the year will not be completed in time.
The Awami National Party (ANP) central president Asfandyar Wali Khan has rejected the budget, saying that due to the weak economic situation of the federal government, KP did not get a net profit of electricity that’s why KP is facing billions of rupees deficits.
To reduce this deficit, Khan said either loan would be taken from foreign institutions or development projects will have to be scrapped, which in both cases will put more problems on the poor people of the tribal districts.
Asfandyar said Rs48b has been set aside for the tribal districts this year even though the fund announced in the previous budget has not been paid yet. He demanded the immediate release of the NFC award so that the provinces could get their share and start uplift work.
