KP asks Centre to reconstitute Fata Reforms Committee

Wants CM, CS included to advise govt on merger

PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government has rejected the decisions of the federal cabinet about the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) and asked the Centre to reconstitute Fata Reforms Committee and include the chief minister and chief secretary in the body to advise the government on steps for merger of the tribal belt with the province over the next five years.

Briefing the media after the cabinet meeting here on Wednesday, provincial Minister for Public Health and Engineering (PHE) Shah Farman said the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) through phased merger of the Fata wanted to form its government in the province.

He said it (PML-N) wanted to bring 18 general and four minority members to the provincial assembly but it at the same time planned to retain power to run the affairs of the Fata.

The provincial cabinet at its meeting also proposed that the reconstituted Fata Reforms Committee should also be given the status of the cabinet level implementation committee, which should meet quarterly under the chairmanship of the prime minister.

Chaired by Chief Minister Pervez Khattak, the provincial cabinet meeting urged the federal government to soon form the Directorate of Transition and Reforms Implementation (DTRI) as envisaged in the Chapter 5 of the Reforms Committee Report to coordinate and monitor the process of Fata reforms. It also asked the federal government to integrate the proposed DTRI to the provincial administration so that the process of reforms implementation could better be coordinated.

He said that the provincial cabinet also asked other provinces to double the quota for the Fata students in the health and educational institutions and retain the same for at least 10 years even after the merger of the tribal belt with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

He said that the cabinet was informed that development funds utilisation in the province would go beyond 100 percent.Briefing the cabinet on the revise estimates expenditures for the current fiscal 2016-17, the secretary Finance Department, Shah Farman said, informed the performance of the province was better among all provinces when it comes to the utilisation of development funds. The chief minister, he said, expressed satisfaction over the funds utilisation and termed the same a commendable job by the line departments.

The chief minister also lauded the Food Department for saving Rs6 billion in the procurement and storage of wheat in the province.The cabinet was also briefed on the performance of Power and Energy sector and the chief minister directed the Power and Energy Department to expedite the process of implementation of the memorandums of understanding (MoUs) as it would fetch billion of foreign investment to the province.

The minister also informed that the chief minister sought proposals from the Home and Tribal Affairs Department on the arms licence issuance policy for the 222 and 223 bore weapons.

Shah Farman informed that the cabinet put off the matter of approval of Rs633.890 million as supplementary budgetary grant for the security of the anti-polio campaigns in 26 districts of the province.

However, it approved the additional grant of Rs28 million for the purchase five 2700cc Sport Utility Vehicles (SUVs) for the district and sessions judges posted in the far-flung and mountainous districts including Chitral, Shangla, Kohistan, Torghar and Upper Dir.The cabinet also approved amendments to the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Food Safety Authority Act 2014 to ensure and facilitate the export and import of Halal food items.