?Fata **t to become a separate province?
 

FCR will be abolished; courts will be established in tribal areas; Fata reforms committee report presented in NA



ISLAMABAD: Adviser to the PM on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz on Friday presented the report of the Fata Reforms Committee before the National Assembly which recommends the merger of Fata with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

The reforms envisage that Fata will **t become a separate province, the controversial Frontier Crimes Regulation (FCR) law will be abolished and branches of the higher courts will be established in the tribal areas.

“The committee has recommended that Fata should be merged with KP as the creation of a new province is difficult but the process will take time,” he said.According to the report, the local bodies elections have been proposed to be held in Fata next year. Explaining the salient features of the report, Sartaj Aziz said comprehensive proposals had been prepared by the committee formed by the prime minister to address the problems of Fata people.

He said the report was prepared after holding detailed consultations with all the stakeholders, including elected representatives of Fata, traders, journalists and civil society members of the area.

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, who also attended proceedings of the House for an hour on Friday, had constituted the committee in **vember last year, which took eight months to deliberate on it. “It is an important matter which needs to be debated in this august house,” he said.

He said the committee visited all the seven agencies of Fata and met cross sections of the society, including the Fata elders, representatives and civil society members. The adviser said the committee presented four options for reforms before them, which include maintaining the status quo but introducing judicial/administrative reforms and increasing focus on development activities, creating the Fata Council on the pattern of Gilgit-Baltistan, creating a separate province of Fata and integrating Fata with KP. He said majority of opinions were in favour of merging Fata with KP.

Minister for States and Frontier Regions Abdul Qadir Baloch said in the first five years, IDPs will be fully rehabilitated and in the second phase, mega development projects will be implemented in the area.

The minister also proposed to set up an advisory committee comprising Fata parliamentarians to give their recommendations to the gover**r of KP for development of Fata. He said a Grade 22 ******r, under the supervision of gover**r KP, would monitor all the development projects. He also remarked that these recommendations were **t final and suggestions given by the members of this house would be welcomed.

The speaker also assured the House to conduct a thorough debate on the issue to seek the suggestions of lawmakers.Parliamentary leader of Fata Haji Shah Jee Gul Afridi said the people of tribal areas would remember the prime minister for his efforts in this regard, adding that after Quaid-i-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah, Nawaz Sharif would be the second leader who took this step.

Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Shaikh Aftab Ahmad told the House that the Pakistan Meteorological Department has a network of seven radars. He said all these radars are operational, however, most of the radars are based on old tech**logy. He said three radars were being replaced with new ones.

Answering a question, he said PIA has introduced its premier service to provide better travelling facilities to the people.He said presently there is only one aircraft in the service while two more are being acquired.





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