PESHAWAR: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ali Amin Khan Gandapur on Monday criticised the federal government for `avoiding its Constitutional responsibility over the delayed National Finance Commission Award` and warned that if the federal government failed to announce the new NFC Award by April, then a `decisive action` would be taken in May.

Addressing a seminar on `Policy Dialogue on NFC and the Way Forward` in Islamabad, Mr Gandapur also warned that failure to learn from history could lead to further instability.

`Despite the merger of former tribal areas into the province a move endorsed by the entire nation promised commitments remain unfulfilled even after six years,` he said. The event brought together leading economic and financial experts, former finance ministers, representatives of international organizations, parliamentarians, and media personnel from across the country, according to a statement issued from the Chief Minister`s Secretariat. The CM said that the Constitution was a social contract between the state and its people, ensuring their fundamental rights and lamented that repeated violations of the constitution had gone unpunished, eroding public trust and fostering resentment.

He said that the KP-Fata merger increased the province`s population by 5.7 million (a three per cent rise) andexpandeditslandareaby22,000 square kilometers (3.8 per cent) adding that per the statistics, KP`s share in the NFC Award should have increased from 14 per cent to 19.6 per cent, yet the province has not received its due share.

Mr Gandapur said that the federal government had pledged an annual allocation of Rs100 billion for the accelerated development of themerged districts, amounting to Rs600 billion over six years, but only Rs132 billion has been disbursed so far.

He said that the province received only Rs66 billion annually instead of the committed Rs88 billion for operational expenses in these districts.

`This neglect by the federal government was fostering distrust among the people of the merged areas, ` he said.

The chief minister said that the provincial government increased its revenue by 55 per cent, cleared Rs75 billion in outstanding dues from the previous administration, and established Pakistan`s first Debt Management Fund, initially allocating Rs30 billion with plans to raise it to Rs150 billion.

He said that while the province continued to bear the brunt of terrorism, its contributions ensure the safety of the rest of the country where at the same time lamented that instead of receiving due recognition, the province faced injustices.

While talking on environmental matters, Mr Gandapur said 45 per cent of the country`s forests were in KP, acting as a major carbon sink adding the government spent Rs330 billion annually on forest conservation and invested Rs650 billion in afforestation efforts.

He advocated for an NFC allocation for environmental conservation, following Indian example.

The chief minister also highlighted KP`s role in energy production, arguing that despite producing cheap electricity and gas, the province was forced to buy the same at higher rates and criticised the federal government for withholding Rs2 trillion in net hydel profit owed to KP.He said not a single rupee would be waived, as it belonged to the people of the province.

Mr Gandapur pointed out that while agriculture was devolved to the provinces underthe 18th Constitutional amendment, the federal government continued to collect Rs200 billion annually from KP in tobacco cess without returning any share to the province an outright violation of the Constitutional framework.

He pledged to secure KP`s Constitutional rights of the province, and declared that his government would fight at every level.

`If the rights are not granted, the provincial government would take the matter to the Supreme Court, for which a legal case was already being prepared,` he said.

The chief minister appealed to the chief justice of Pakistan to ensure a prompt and fair verdict once the case was filed so that the KP residents received their rightful share.

He said while he had endured political persecution, he would not tolerate any compromise on the province`s rights and urged KP residents to be ready for a struggle, promising to lead them personally.

Mr Gandapur warned that responsibility of any kind of loss as a result of forceful suppression would lie with those in power.

Experts in attendance included Shabbar Zaidi, Shaukat Tareen, Ashfaq Ahmad, Qaiser Bengali, Hassan Khawar, Saqib Sherani, Asad Umar, Umar Ayub, Dr Ahmad Zubair, Louay Shabana, Tobias, Muzzammil Aslam, and several others. The participants discussed the need to revise the NFC Award in line with contemporary economic realities and highlighted its current shortcomings.

They emphasised the urgent requirement for a new NFC Award and underscored the necessity of national consensus for political stability as a prerequisite for economic stability.