F.P. Report
PESHAWAR: An important meeting regarding financial issues of the province related to federation, was held here at Chief Minister’s House Peshawar the other day with Chief Minister Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Ali Amin Khan Gandapur in the chair. The participants were briefed in details about the outstanding dues of the province against the federal government and other related matters.
Advisor to Chief Minister for Finance Muzammil Aslam, Chief Secretary Nadeem Aslam Chaudhry, Additional Chief Secretary Syed Imtiaz Hussain Shah, Principal Secretary to Chief Minister Amjad Ali Khan, Secretary Finance Aamir Sultan Tareen, Secretary Energy & Power Nisar Ahmed and other relevant officials attended the meeting.
The meeting was informed that under the AGN Qazi Formula, the center owed Rs. 1510 billion to the province in lieu of Net Hydel Profit, whereas, arrears amounting to Rs. 6 billion on account of province own generated electricity being provided to the National Grid, are also outstanding. It was further informed that administrative merger of the erstwhile FATA into Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province had been completed, but financial integration is still incomplete due to which, the provincial government is facing financial problems.
It was also told that the province is not getting its due share in various federal transfers due to which the provincial government is faced with a major challenge of financial crunches adding that with the merger of erstwhile FATA into Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the population of the province has increased but the share of the province in NFC Award has not been increased accordingly which needs to be addressed to enable the province to get its due share.
The meeting was told that as per the existing population after merger of erstwhile FATA, the NFC share of the province stands 19.64% of the total but the province is getting only 14.62%. So far, the province has been provided with only 103 billion rupees out of committed Rs. 500 billion, under the Accelerated Implementation Program of newly merged districts.
The Chief Minister on this occasion, directed the authorities concerned to chalk out strategy for taking up the financial matters of the province with federation adding that all the required documents along with plan of action should be finalized within a month. He made it clear that all available legal and constitutional forums would be approached in order to get the arrears and due rights of the province.
He also directed to constitute a team of experts for effectively taking up the matter with federal government. In case, the issue is not resolved by federation, all available options will be utilized for getting due share of the province including knocking the door of courts, he said and added that reputable Law Firms would also be hired for this purpose.
Later, chairing a meeting of the Board of Revenue, the Chief Minister Ali Amin Khan Gandapur has directed the quarters concerned for necessary amendments in the relevant law in order to ensure protection of women’s rights in inheritance. He also directed for pragmatic steps for completing phase-I of the ongoing land record computerization project by June 2024 and phase-II by December 2024, adding that deployment of required necessary staff at districts level should also be ensured well before the process of land record computerization is completed.
Provincial Minister for revenue Nazir Abbasi, SMBR Ikramullah Khan, Principal Secretary to Chief Minister Amjad Ali Khan and other relevant officials attended the meeting. Concerned authorities on this occasion, briefed the participants about administrative affairs, reform initiatives, revenue collection, development projects and other related matters of the department. Addressing the participants, the chief minister said that it was imperative to introduce reforms in the board of revenue for improving public service delivery, and directed the authorities concerned to initiate home work on necessary amendments in the legal framework of the department.
