Special financial package for tribal districts demanded

LANDIKOTAL: Former provincial minister and Awami National Party (ANP) secretary general Mian Iftikhar Hussain on Saturday asked Prime Minister Imran Khan to unveil a special financial package for militancy-hit tribal districts.

Speaking at a news conference here, he said that tribal areas had their own shares in the National Finance Commission (NFC) award.

He said after Fata reforms and its merger with KP, the government should have announced a special development package for the tribal people.

The ANP leader added that besides the NFC award, the government should also unveil another package as Fata suffered the most during militancy.

Regarding the foreign policy, he said the federal government must formulate a friendly policy to foster relations with its neighbouring countries.

Mian Iftikhar said his party wanted friendly ties with Afghanistan which could guarantee peace and development across the border.

He asked Pakistan and Afghanistan not to indulge in blame-game as it would not bear any fruit and should work together to root out terrorism from the region. He said instability in Afghanistan directly affected Pakistan.

To a question, Mian Iftikhar said they demanded the government to allot special cards to local people and labourers who frequently crossed Torkham border to earn livelihood.

He asked the National Logistics Cell authorities to revise their rules of business at the Torkham border as creating hardships for the local residents and daily wagers was not in the best interest of the country.