Parties voice concern at Centre’s indifference towards KP

PESHAWAR: A Jamaat-e-Islami (JI)-convened All Parties Conference on Wednesday expressed serious concern over the indifferent attitude of the federal government towards Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and its recently merged districts, and urged the Centre to give due shares of the province under different heads to overcome the growing unrest among people.

The meeting, held at the provincial headquarters of the JI, was chaired by party’s provincial president Senator Mushaq Ahmad Khan. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Information Minister Shaukat Yousafzai, provincial president of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl Senator Maulana Attaur Rahman, Awami National Party’s general secretary Sardar Hussain Babak, Qaumi Watan Party provincial president Sikandar Hayat Sherpao, Pakistan People’s Party leader Syed Ayub Shah, Ikhtiar Wali of Pakistan Muslim League, Inayatullah Khan of JI and others spoke on the occasion.

A joint declaration was also adopted at the conference wherein the federal government was asked to seriously think over the genuine problems faced by the people of the province and release the share of the province under different heads like hydel net profit, National Finance Commission (NFC) award and others.

According to the declaration, the net hydel profit is a constitutional right of the province and the federal government should immediately issue the Rs450 billion arrears of the province under the AGN Kazi Formula. Also, it said Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is the major electricity producing province which generates 6,000 megawatts power, while its own consumption is just 15,000 megawatts; hence, the series of outages in the province should be immediately ended and uninterrupted power supply to the people of the province should be ensured.

The conference declared that the PTI government had been unable to issue NFC award even after 20 months of its rule, which has been adversely affecting Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The conference demanded the government to issue the NFC award at the earliest.

The meeting was told that other provinces of the country have been using the waters of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa under the Water Accord reached in 1991, for which they ought to make payments to the province. They conference urged the provinces of Punjab and Sindh to immediately release the payments of the province pending against them. The conference also urged the federal government to provide resources to the province so that it could fully utilise its share of water.

The federal government has also given minimum share to the province in budget and no mega project could be initiated here. The meeting urged the government to take urgent steps for Mohmand and Bhasha dams. Also, funds should be released for construction of the left canal and tax exemption of Malakand division should be maintained, the participants stressed.

The meeting participants also expressed serious concern over little share given the province in the development projects under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). They demanded of the government to provide due share in the multi-billion project to the province. Like electricity, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is a major producer of gas. Therefore, the gas load-shedding and low pressure should be ended immediately, they declared.

The worst flour crisis has badly affected the province. The price of flour in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is much higher than that of Punjab. The PTI government should focus attention on the issue and ensure same prices of flour in both the provinces., they said

They also said the price hike of daily use commodities has made life miserable for the people; the government should withdraw unnecessary taxes from the essential items so that the prices could be brought down. The meeting also discussed the situation in the newly merged districts of the province, which have been badly affected by the prolonged wave of militancy. The federal government at the time of merger with the province had promised to provide Rs1000 billion to those areas in 10 years, of which Rs100 billion would be released on monthly basis. However, no such funds could be released so far.

The conference demanded of the government to fulfil its commitment and immediately release the funds for the former tribal areas’ reconstruction and rehabilitation.

The government should also focus attention on education, health and other facilities in the former tribal areas and set up universities, medical colleges and other educational institutions and health facilities in the province, they added.

The conference also discussed the poor financial and working conditions of working journalists and urged the government to take necessary steps to overcome the situation.