PESHAWAR: Awami National Party Pakhtunkhwa President Mian Iftikhar Hussain has demanded increase in NFC share from 14.46 percent and rejected the new Terms of Reference (ToRs) of the 11th National Finance Commission (NFC), calling it a dacoit on the financial rights of the provinces.
Mian Iftikhar Hussain said that this move is an attempt to abolish the spirit of the 1973 Constitution and the financial autonomy given to the provinces under the 18th Amendment, which cannot be tolerated under any circumstances.
He clarified that under Article 160(3A) of the Constitution, the share of the provinces cannot be reduced under any circumstances, but the current federal government wants to put the burden of major development projects on the provinces and force the provinces to share federal expenses during natural disaster.
He said that there are differences in the financial responsibility of the federal government in various schemes, which is unacceptable to the people of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Mian Iftikhar Hussain said that it is beyond understanding to give the representation of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province to people of other provinces. He demanded that each province should be represented in the NFC Award only by people from that province so that the real problems and financial needs of the provincial people can be brought to the fore.
He said that any attempt to reduce the share of the provinces will be strongly resisted. Rather, it is the need of the hour that the share of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province should be increased. After the FATA merger, the current share of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province should be increased and FATA’s arrears should also be paid so that the financial crisis of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa can be overcome.
He further said that terrorism has badly affected Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the current one percent share does not correspond to reality. Therefore, the share received by the province to end terrorism must be increased so that the province can adopt a better strategy to come out of this crisis.
Mian Iftikhar Hussain said that the Awami National Party is the protector of provincial rights and no one will be allowed to reduce the constitutional share of the provinces or abolish provincial autonomy. The ANP will continue to struggle at all levels to protect the rights of the provinces.
In addition to this, the KP government had also pointed out that from 2019 to 2024, the federal government had paid the province its share in NFC Award at a rate of 14.62 per cent, amounting to Rs3.046 trillion. However, based on the revised NFC share of 19.64 per cent, its share amounted to Rs4.092 trillion, resulting in a shortfall of Rs1.046 trillion.
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