PESHAWAR: Tribal elders and parliamentarians from the merged tribal districts piled up their problems during a consultative jirga here on Tuesday as the provincial government officials made futile attempts to assuage their concerns on the development initiatives being undertaken in the merged tribal districts.

“Our immediate requirement is the reconstruction of damaged houses instead of the allocation of billions of rupees for roads, schools, health and other facilities,” said North Waziristan chieftain Malik Nasrullah Khan in a jam-packed hall of the Chief Minister’s House here.

The chieftain said 80 per cent of residents lived outside North Waziristan district as they did not have shelter.

He said militancy-affected people of North and South Waziristan tribal districts had been demonstrating in Tank and Peshawar to claim compensation for their damaged properties.

“Protesters may shift their sit-in to Islamabad if the government doesn’t pay attention to their demands,” he said, urging the government to negotiate with the affected people.

Tell govt-convened jirga tribesmen immediately need reconstruction of houses

The provincial government convened the consultative jirga to brief elders and elected representatives about the development projects being executed under the multibillion rupees Accelerated Implementation Programme for the erstwhile Fata.

The federal and provincial governments are jointly implementing the 10 years development programme. Chief Minister Mahmood Khan chaired the jirga, which was also attended by ministers and senior officers of the relevant departments.

Addressing the jirga, the chief minister said his government and leadership of the ruling PTI were fully committed to the accelerated development of merged areas and that all-out efforts would be made to that effect.

He assured elders of the resolution of their problems on priority basis and said all development initiatives for the merged areas would be implemented in consultation with the local elders.

Mr Mahmood asked elders of the merged areas to play their effective role to foil the negative propaganda of elements opposed to Fata-KP merger.

Briefing the jirga about salient features of AIP, principal secretary to the chief minister Shahab Ali Shah said the government would spent Rs1.32 trillion in merged districts under the 10 years development plan.

He said the government had completed the planning stage and work on various schemes had begun in merged districts.

The principal secretary said the government had set up advisory committees in all tribal districts for the identification of development schemes.

He said the additional chief secretary had been notified as the chairman of the committee that comprised secretary of the communication and works department, secretary of the department concerned, and officers of the Pakistan Army and Corps of Engineers.

Mr Shah said 74,719 fully and partially damaged houses had been surveyed in five districts and an amount of Rs24.42 billion had been paid to affected families under the Citizen Losses Compensation Programme.

He said a total of 22,000 levies men had been integrated into provincial police and another 8,000 would be absorbed very soon.

“A total of 1.2 million people of merged districts will get Sehat Insaf Card and 1.1 billion allocated for merged districts under Insaaf Rozgar Scheme,” he said.

The principal secretary said more than 8,000 new vacancies had been created in health and education sectors.

Tribal elders and parliamentarian complained that the government was paying Rs400,000 for fully damaged house and Rs160,000 for partially damaged house, which were insufficient.

Former federal minister from Khyber district Malik Waris Khan Afridi said merit was not observed in appointments and provision of loans to unemployed youth.

He urged the government to increase house compensation package.

MNA Gul Dad Khan from Bajaur said bureaucracy was using delaying tactics in the execution of development schemes.

He called for the launch of mega schemes, including construction of highway to connect all tribal districts. MNA Munir Orakzai of the Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl called for a feasible formula to distribute development funds to merged districts.

He suggested that the government make population and area a criterion for the allocation of development funds. The lawmaker said a consultative council comprising chief minister, parliamentarians and officers was notified eight months ago to oversee but it had yet to hold the maiden meeting.

He complained that certain subdivisions in former Fata had been ignored in the annual development programme either on political grounds or geographical location.

Mr Munir suggested that the government streamline judicial and administrative systems in merged districts.

Published in Dawn, March 11th, 2020