KP CM urges Centre to pay over Rs2tr to avert financial crisis

PESHAWAR: Caretaker Chief Minister Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Muhammad Azam Khan has urged the caretaker government to help resolve the financial crisis by disbursing Rs2,036 billion, the federal government owes to the province.

In a letter written by the caretaker chief minister KP to caretaker Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar, Azam said that people of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa had suffered due to non-adherence to special provisions of the Constitution and added that any further delay would jeopardize the harmony and peace in the province, particularly the newly-merged districts (NMDs).

The recent bomb blast in Bajaur, which claimed 63 lives, is a result of decades old militancy. It has its roots in the peculiar situation of the region. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa lags behind from the rest of the country due to locational disadvantage, poverty, backwardness, illiteracy, dearth of infrastructure and other ills, said the communique sent by the caretaker CM Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to the caretaker PM. If the government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is given access to its rightful dues, under various heads promised and enshrined by the Constitution, the precarious financial position of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa can be averted, added the letter.

The 25th Amendment to the Constitution and merger of Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) with the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the 7th National Finance Commission (NFC) Award require correction, resulting in an increase in the provincial share from 14.62 percent to 19.6 percent. The increase in the province’s share corresponds to the monetary figure of Rs262 billion for the year 2023-24. Meanwhile, the federal government has allocated only Rs123 billion, leaving a shortfall of Rs139 billion for the period in question.

The caretaker CM said the commitment made by the federal cabinet on March 02, 2017, to provide 3 percent NFC/Rs100 billion annually to the province to be spent on the development of ex-FATA to bring it at par with the rest of the country needs to be fulfilled.

The federal government has allocated only Rs103 billion so far against the due share of Rs500 billion from 2018 to 2023, leading to a shortfall of Rs397 billion.

He said the outstanding payments of Rs1.5 trillion from 2016 to 2023 are pending under the head of Net Hydel Profit as per the Kazi Committee methodology.