BAJAUR AGENCY -  People belonging to different walks of life in the agency expressed reservations over federal budget for fiscal year 2017-18 and said that there was no special package in the budget for the tribal areas.

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Bajaur chapter general secretary Nawabzada Jalauddin while talking to The Nation on Sunday said that the federal budget was “disappointing” for people, particularly the tribesmen as there was nothing special for the tribal areas in the budget.

He pointed out that the federal government had failed to provide special package for the Federally-Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) as the government had promised to allocate huge funds for the militancy-hit areas in the new budget. He accused the government for allocating huge funds for the lawmakers in the budget and said that almost funds would be used for the personal benefit of legislators and unnecessary activities.

Fata Students organisation (FSO) leader Misbahuddin said that the federal budget had badly disappointed every citizen in the tribal areas as the government had failed to include a special development package in the budget for the tribal areas. He criticised the government for not allocating a sufficient fund for the tribal areas in the budget, adding that Rs26 billion was too much little to meet the needs of 20 million populations of tribal areas which had been deprived of basic necessities since their birth.

He termed the Rs26 billon for Fata in the federal budget like a ‘cumin seed in a camel’s mouth’. He asked the government to revise its decision about Fata funds and the funds should allocate according to the NFC awards.

Senior right activist and “Raise Voice against FCR” leader Asadullah Khan also showed his displeasure over the federal budget and said that there was nothing in the budget to help the tribesmen in provision of basic facilities.

He said that the funds announced for the tribal areas were inadequate to rehabilitate only few major infrastructures in the tribal areas, destroyed in the war on terrorism. He pointed out that the federal budget would not bring any positive changes in people’s lives especially the tribal areas, but would create more troubles for the general public.

JI ASKS KP GOVT TO RESOLVE YDA ISSUES: Staff Reporter from Peshawar adds: Jamaat-e-Islami Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa chief Mushtaq Ahmad Khan stressed provincial government to immediately resolve issues of the doctors associated with Young Doctors Association, who have been protesting since long for their demands.

Mushtaq on Sunday visited Lady Reading Hospital (LRH), Peshawar and met with office bearers of the Young Doctors Association (YDA). He said on the occasion that it was regrettable that present government had not fully reformed health and education sectors in best interest of the people of the province.

Mushtaq said that Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (KP) government must remove all reservations of protesting doctors and meet their demands, adding that due to strikes at the hospitals, ultimate sufferers used to be the common people.

Within the limit of the law, it is the right of the doctors to raise voice for their demands, the JI KP ameer said, adding that since long health department had been making experiences, which, he said, had multiplied people’s problems.

Mushtaq while coming down hard on previous governments as well as bureaucracy said that it was unfortunate that health and education sectors had yet to be reformed accordingly, adding that it was a failure on part of the successive provincial governments.

He said that doctors were taking to streets for their demands even during the holy month of Ramazan, which he said was regrettable, adding that even more sorrowful was the fact that none of the government officials or health minister contacted protesting doctors about the issued for which they are protesting was the worst kind of negligence on the part of concerned quarters, he said.

The provincial government should accept what it had already promised with the YDA earlier, adding that instead of forcing doctors to take to the streets, the government should meet their demands immediately, he said, adding that his party would back the doctors in meeting their genuine demands.

It is pertinent to mention here that JI is part of the ruling coalition in KP led by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI).