After the 25th Constitutional Amendment passed in May 2019, Federally Administrative Tribal Areas (FATA) was officially merged with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. It was a long-time demand of the tribal people, which become possible after 72 years of the independence of Pakistan. It was, indeed, a landmark achievement for the whole country, particularly for the tribal people, to bring FATA into the mainstream after a process of five years. The people of FATA will be regarded as an integral part of Pakistan and would no longer be at the whims of an unjust system.
However, it is very strange that in the last sixth months, nothing has been done so far in the Tribal Districts. The non-implementations of FATA reforms have caused great concern and grievances among the people. According to the recent report, which was published in the various newspapers, the government departments have utilised only 0.4 per cent of the Rs 83 billion development outlay for the merged districts in the first six months of the current fiscal year.
The breakdown of the funds spent on development projects, and more importantly, funds not spent at all, paints a dismal picture of the performance of yet another provincial government headed by the PTI. When it comes to making speeches and commitments about mainstreaming these districts, politicians have been falling over each other to solemnly pledge revolutionary changes. The reality, however, tells another story. Even when PM Imran Khan visited Tribal Districts, he also announced a huge package for the erstwhile FATA. However, nothing has yet been done on practical grounds. The hefty sum of Rs 100 billion is a good start because the region has long been neglected and is in dire need of an uplift.
No big socio-economic change has happened in the tribal districts since the merger with the neighbouring Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in May 2018
Similarly, the tribal districts have been facing various issues and problems, which are becoming a headache for the locals. There were many points included in FATA reforms, but little work has been done so far. After the rehabilitation of the IDPs to FATA, particularly to South Waziristan, the government announced a Rs 400,000 grant for the reconstruction of the damaged houses of the IDPs. Two years ago, survey teams completed the survey of different areas but more than 24000 survey forms are still hanging in Deputy Commission Office, Tank, as the tussle goes on between various government departments. This is a very serious issue and so far, the KP government has completely failed to resolve it. Government authoritative should look seriously into this matter.
Unemployment is another issue in the tribal districts. In most of the cases, the KP government has transferred non-locals to fill the various vacant positions in the merged districts. Recently, various TMOs have been posted in the tribal districts, and they have been transferred from different areas of UP. This is a grave injustice to the talented and educated class of the area.
No big socio-economic change has happened in the tribal districts since the merger with the neighbouring Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province in May 2018. This mismanagement and poor performance come at a steep cost for both citizens and the state. The uplift of the merged districts should have been accorded the highest priority by the top leadership of the province.
However, the situation, as illustrated by the overwhelmingly unspent amount of the allocated budget, puts this steep cost in an even sharper focus.
After all, it is not because of any shortage of funds that the provincial government has been unable to address the districts’ needs for functioning schools, colleges, hospitals, roads, clean drinking water and other essential services. What is sadly missing are the will, capacity and the correct list of priorities to get this work done for the people.
This lack of performance shows the entire government in a bad light. This should be of concern to Prime Minister Imran Khan because these districts have been politically integrated after a long and arduous process. The current PTI government in the KP should need a serious concern to bring some fruits of development in the merged districts and create more and more opportunities for the locals in every field so that they can get good results of the FATA-KP merger in future.
The writer is a freelance columnist