Prime Minister Justice (r) Nasirul Mulk has said that the merger of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) into Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is a landmark development promising positive impact on addressing the development lag and bringing a marked improvement to the lives of the people.
The prime minister stated while chairing a meeting to review progress on implementation of FATA Reforms at Prime Minister’s Office on Monday.
The prime minister stressed the need for addressing the important administrative, legal and financial issues in this regard. The meeting was attended by Law Minister Barrister Syed Ali Zafar, secretaries of SAFRON, finance and planning divisions, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa chief secretary, FATA ACS and other senior officials. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Secretary Muhammad Azam Khan briefed the meeting about the implementation progress and pointed out various administrative, legal and financial issues that needed immediate attention to ensure smooth transition of the merger process after the passage of 25th Constitutional Amendment.
Further drilling down, the chief secretary said that the agencies and frontier regions had been re-designated as districts and sub-divisions of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the posts of political agents and assistant political agents had been re-designated as deputy commissioners and assistant commissioners.
The meeting was told that the collection of taxes/levy had been stopped after the abolition of Agency Development Fund. The meeting was informed that draft plans for extension of judiciary, policing, prosecution and prisons service to tribal districts had also been prepared.
A Federal Board of Revenue (Member) briefed the meeting about tax exemptions and other financial incentives given to erstwhile FATA and PATA for the next five years. The finance secretary also briefed the meeting about the financial allocations for the development of the region and for ensuring smooth implementation of the merger process.
The meeting also constituted a committee under the chairmanship of minister for law, justice and parliamentary affairs and comprising KP chief secretary, KP advocate general, home secretary, FATA ACS and representatives of the finance, revenue and planning divisions to formulate a strategy for removing bottlenecks and making the merger process seamless. The committee was directed to complete its work at the earliest possible.
The prime minister emphasized that the process of transition should be completed swiftly and it must provide a sense of security to the people of the erstwhile tribal areas.
Published in Daily Times, June 12th 2018.
