Islamabad: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Friday criticized the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) government for failing to establish a Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) despite receiving $590 billion in the last 14 years.
Responding to the order forwarded by Sunni Union Council member and former NA Speaker Asad Qaiser, the Prime Minister said that K-P has been given an additional share in the NFC award to strengthen its counter-terrorism efforts.
This division was approved by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif in 2010 when K-P was the worst affected province during the peak of terrorism.
Shehbaz acknowledged the sacrifices of the people of K-P and called them frontline soldiers against terrorism.
He said that additional NFC quota for K-P remains unchanged and will not be given to other provinces like Balochistan despite its significant contribution in counter-terrorism.
The Prime Minister said that K-P has received $590 billion from 2010 to date, but failed to open the CTD, the department where the funds are mainly allocated.
He questioned why the CTD remained incomplete despite huge financial support.
Focusing on another issue raised by the opposition, Shehbaz Sherif informed the House that the federal government has sent a team of three candidates to appoint the Chief Secretary of K-P as per tradition.
The Prime Minister offered to reconsider the group if the provincial government wanted, but rejected the accusation of discrimination against the province.
Meanwhile, Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Friday said that the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has played an important role in the country’s economy and stressed the importance of collective efforts for national growth and prosperity.
Presiding over a meeting on matters related to the FBR, he instructed senior lawyers to look into the work and various pending cases in courts and tribunals.
The Prime Minister ordered that the Customs Appellate Tribunals be set up together with the Inland Revenue Appellate Tribunals to speed up the disposal of tax-related cases.
He said he will chair the weekly review meeting on ongoing reforms and revenue from the FBR. The Prime Minister also directed senior FBR officials to devise a strategy for awarding the awards.
In the briefing, it was mentioned that the process of establishing the Internal Revenue Court has started. There will be an open written test to appoint judges to this tribunal.
The meeting was attended by Minister of Law and Justice Azam Nazeer Tarar, Attorney General Mansoor Usman Awan, Prime Minister’s Coordinator of Economy and Energy Bilal Azhar Kayani, Federal Government Legal Affairs Spokesperson Aqeel Malik, Advocate Daniyal Chaudhry. Coordinating Minister Rana Ihsaan Afzal Khan, Chairman FBR and other senior government officials.
