Prime Minister Asks Provinces To Contribute To Uplift Of Merged Tribal Areas

Fahad Shabbir (@FahadShabbir) Published July 14, 2021 | 07:09 PM

Prime Minister Imran Khan on Wednesday urged the provinces to contribute to the uplift of merged tribal areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and ensure prosperity of their locals

ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 14th Jul, 2021 ) :Prime Minister Imran Khan on Wednesday urged the provinces to contribute to the uplift of merged tribal areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and ensure prosperity of their locals.

He was chairing a meeting on the reconstruction and development of erstwhile Federally Administered Tribal Areas under the funds provided by the Federal Government.

The prime minister acknowledged the immense sacrifices rendered by the people of merged tribal areas for the country and said they needed to be given all the basic amenities of life.

The meeting was attended by Finance Minister Shaukat Tareen, Planning Minister Asad Umar, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Mahmood Khan, Special Assistant Dr Shahbaz Gill, Special Assistant Dr Waqar Masood, KP Finance Minister Taimur Saleem Jhagra, finance secretary and other senior officials.

It was informed that the population of merged areas was about 2.4 percent of the country's total populace, and proportionately their share in the National Finance Commission (NFC) Award was amounted to Rs 80 billion.

It was further told that the tribal areas were getting Rs 84 billion before their merger, but now the Federal Government was making increased payment of Rs 146 to them at the rate of 4 percent of the country's population.

The meeting was also informed that Rs 130 billion had been allocated in the federal budget 2021-22 for the development of merged tribal areas.