Federal Minister for Overseas Pakistanis and Human Resource Development Sajid Hussain Turi said that it is the need of the hour to end the deprivations of the erstwhile Federally Administrated Tribal Area (FATA) and address all necessary issues on a priority basis.
He said that tribal people had suffered the most due to the menace of terrorism and the promises made to the tribal people at the time of the merger have not been fulfilled, said a press release issued here.
A tribal delegation consisting of more than 150 elders from all the newly merged districts under the leadership of Federal Minister Sajid Hussain Turi met with Speaker of National Assembly Raja Pervez Ashraf.
The problems faced by the merged districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the promises made at the time of merger were discussed in the meeting.
“The tribal people are losing rather than benefiting from the merger of FATA. The aim of FATA integration should have been the reforms, reconstruction and development in war-torn areas. After the merger of FATA, funds from tribal areas were used in other districts of the province”, tribal elders said.
The census was conducted when tribal people were displaced from their areas due to terrorism.
National Assembly seats in tribal areas have decreased due to the wrong census. Census should be conducted again in the tribal areas. At the time of merger, the opinions of the tribal people were not taken into consideration.
Funds earmarked for FATA and quotas in colleges and universities should be restored for ten years”, tribal leaders further added. Pakistan’s Peoples Party is aware of the unprecedented sacrifices and problems faced by the tribal people and had always solved the problems of its tribal brothers and sisters, Speaker National Assembly Raja Pervez Ashraf said.
Sajid Hussain Turi said that construction and development works should be done rapidly in the tribal areas so that they can be included in the national agenda. Pakistan People’s Party will always play its constitutional role for the welfare of the people of tribal areas, he assured.
