ISLAMABAD:
The Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (KP) government on Tuesday told the Center that it may file a petition in the Federal Constitutional Court (FCC) against all parties for not giving their due share due to the merger of 6.1 million people from the tribal districts with the province.
KP Chief Minister Sohail Afridi raised the issue during his meetings with the Federal Finance Minister and Planning Minister. Last week, the other three provinces refused to support the interim National Finance Commission (NFC) award that KP had demanded instead of the merger of tribal districts since 2018.
According to a statement issued by the Finance Ministry after the meeting, Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb assured the Prime Minister of his full support for the resolution of all legitimate issues. The ministry said Aurangzeb held the meeting “in a cordial and constructive atmosphere.”
Afridi met Aurangzeb a day after a meeting was held between the heads of all governments, the president and the military leadership to address the fuel crisis. The Chief Minister briefed the Finance Minister on various economic and financial problems faced by the province, the Finance Ministry stated.
During the meeting, officials who were aware of the discussions said that the KP Chief Minister raised the issue of increasing provincial participation in the NFC due to the merger of new districts. He said that if KP did not receive compensation, he could take the matter to the FCC, the officials said.
They said the Finance Minister responded that he would return to the provincial government after consultations.
The KP Finance Minister had also written a letter to Aurangzeb last week, informing him of the provincial government’s decision to abandon the NFC deliberations until the issue of the merged districts was resolved. The Ministry of Finance has acknowledged receipt of the letter.
The KP government expects its share in the NFC to increase from 14.62% to 18.96% after the merger of the erstwhile Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) in 2018. Last week, Sindh 11th NFC member Dr Asad Sayyed while speaking to The Express PAkGazette said that Sindh would not support the KP government’s bid for a provisional award of the NFC.
The 11th commission is currently working to finalize a new consensus formula for the distribution of resources between the Center and the four federated units. The seventh prize was awarded in 2010.
The provincial representative made the statement after KP accused the three provinces of backtracking on their earlier commitments to allocate additional resources for the merged districts. The provincial government has linked its future participation in NFC talks to convening the main NFC meeting and addressing the new hot topic.
Under the 25th Constitutional Amendment in 2018, the tribal districts were merged into KP, increasing the provincial population by at least 6.1 million. KP demands an increase in its stake in NFC and payment of some Rs 980 billion in arrears since 2018 through provisional award.
Asad Sayyed said the Sindh government would not support any attempt to pay arrears from earlier date. “We are willing to consider the newly merged districts as part of the 11th NFC award,” he added.
The Punjab government also said last week that the 11th NFC had no mandate to grant interim compensation. He also opined that the constitutionally guaranteed proportions of provinces could not be modified retrospectively.
The KP government also asked the Center for monetary compensation until a consensus is reached among all parties. The KP’s position on demanding additional resources was close to the position of the federal government that wants the provinces to contribute to meeting the expenses of the erstwhile FATA, Azad Jammu and Kashmir and Gilgit Baltistan by allocating their due shares in the new NFC.
Currently, the federal government provides grants to KP to cover these expenses, but the provincial government is of the opinion that the annual grants are far less than the actual expenses.
The KP premier also raised the issue of reducing payments to the province due to Hydel’s net profit. The provincial government informed the Finance Minister that compared to Punjab, KP gets less share. He claimed that in the last fiscal year, Punjab received around Rs 65 billion in net profits from Hydel compared to Rs 36 billion paid to KP.
The KP government also demanded an additional Rs 15 billion to cover the expenses of internally displaced people affected by military operations against terrorists. The Minister of Finance assured that he will study these demands.
“Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb reaffirmed the federal government’s commitment to assisting provincial governments in addressing their financial challenges,” the official document states.
