Financial inclusion of merged districts: Gandapur urges Zardari to convene 10th meeting of NFC

PESHAWAR: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur has urged President Asif Ali Zardari to immediately convene the 10th National Finance Commission (NFC) meeting, saying that the continued financial exclusion of merged districts is unconstitutional and deprives millions of their rightful share.

In a letter to the president, he emphasised that despite the 25th Constitutional Amendment in 2018, which merged the erstwhile Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 5.7 million residents of the merged districts remain financially marginalised.

He stated that while administrative, judicial, and law enforcement structures have been extended to the region, the failure to adjust the NFC Award has severely hindered development, stability, and governance.

The chief minister underscored that the population, geographical area and poverty indicators of the merged districts have not been factored into Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s share of the federal divisible pool, with funds instead retained by the federal government.

“Despite the constitutional merger, withholding the financial rights of the people of ex-FATA is an outright violation of the Constitution,” he said.

Gandapur denounced the continued extension of 7th NFC Award, which has remained unchanged since 2010, despite the region’s merger. He maintained that this practice not only contradicts Article 160 of the Constitution but also breaches the commitments made under the 25th Constitutional Amendment. “Khyber Pakhtunkhwa cannot accept the unconstitutional, unfair and anti-federal extension of an obsolete NFC Award that excludes its rightful share,” he warned.

Calling for urgent action, Gandapur urged the president to immediately convene the long-overdue 10th NFC meeting, stressing that an outdated award that no longer aligns with constitutional realities cannot be extended any further.

In his recent press conference in Peshawar, Gandapur had stated that he had decided to take the case to the Supreme Court as Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif was not listening

to them, but he said Chief of Army Staff Gen Syed Asim Munir had assured him of resolving the

issue with the federal

government through

negotiations.

It seems that the chief minister has lost patience and decided to write a letter to the president and seek his legal assistance in resolving this longstanding issue with the federal government.

The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government has been facing a host of challenges but the major issue is the deteriorating law and order problem in the tribal districts and adjoining areas of the province, particularly the southern belt including Bannu, Lakki Marwat, Karak, Tank and Dera Ismail Khan.

The KP government, particularly the newly appointed provincial police chief Zulfiqar Hameed, has been complaining about the lack of modern weapons for the police force, saying the militants are better equipped than the police.

However, the majority of militants are using automatic AK-47 assault rifles, the same arms used by the police force.

The only modern gadget that the militants have used in some of the nighttime attacks were the night vision goggles which they had acquired in Afghanistan.