KP moves FCC for increase in NFC Award share

The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) government has filed a constitutional petition in the Federal Constitutional Court (FCC) seeking an increase in its share under the National Finance Commission (NFC) Award, the 24NewsHD TV channel reported on Thursday.

The province argued in its petition that the existing allocation does not reflect the merger of the former Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) and Provincially Administered Tribal Areas (PATA) into the province.

According to the petition, the provincial government has requested the court to direct the President to issue an order implementing the recommendations of a new NFC commission.

It has also asked the court to declare that Khyber Pakhtunkhwa's share under the Grant-in-Aid Order should be fixed at 14.79 percent.

The petition further requests the release of funds for the merged districts from the date the 25th Constitutional Amendment came into force. It argues that despite the merger of the former tribal districts with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the province continues to receive its NFC share under the previous formula.

The provincial government contends that the federal government's position on increasing Khyber Pakhtunkhwa's share is unconstitutional and violates Article 160 of the Constitution, which governs the distribution of federal revenues among the provinces.

According to the petition, the issue has repeatedly been raised before the federal government, the President and meetings of the National Finance Commission, but no effective action has been taken.

It also states that the provincial assembly formally endorsed the filing of the constitutional petition on 13 January.

The petition further claims that Punjab, Sindh and Balochistan have supported Khyber Pakhtunkhwa's demand for an increased share under the NFC Award following the merger of the tribal districts.

Reporter: Amanat Gishkori