PESHAWAR: Prime Minister Imran Khan announced on Monday that his government plans to spend Rs.100 billion annually for 10 years in the newly-merged tribal districts.

The announcement is widely believed to aim at removing the sense of deprivations and usher an era of progress and development in the war-ravaged region, bordering Afghanistan.

In his tweet on Monday, the prime minister stated: “Our people in the tribal area will see unprecedented development as [the] government plans to spend over Rs. 100 billion annually for 10 years in tribal districts.”

Jahanzeb Burki, a tribal elder and a local businessman, hoped the erstwhile Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) was now all poised to see a new era of progress under the leadership of Imran Khan who earnestly wanted to rebuild the shattered infrastructure after the volatile region experienced militant linked violence and turmoil for over a decade. 

Last year, Pakistan’s parliament adopted a legislation, merging the country’s tribal belt with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province, a key step in ending the area’s colonial era governance system and giving equal rights and resources to its five million population.

The tribal areas have remained neglected and underdeveloped with much of the area lacks clean water and has little to no health care, education, telecommunication, and infrastructure facilities.

“There are wide range of sectors, which need complete reconstruction or overhaul such as provision of clean drinking water but concerted efforts needed to rebuild educational institutions and healthcare units in the first preference,” Burki added. 

The old colonial era laws in the tribal regions had denied basic legal rights to its people. Coupled with the lack of economic development, the regulations led to an enduring sense of marginalization.

Due to weak government writ before merger with KP, the erstwhile FATA served as militants’ sanctuaries and haven for drug smugglers. 

The Pakistani military carried out a series of anti-militants operations to stamp out insurgents in the last decade, causing mass migration of local families to other parts of the country.

“Living up to our commitment, a three-week consultative process on a 10 year-long development plan for former FATA is being initiated, starting from Bajaur,” the premier tweeted.

Nasim Wazir, a female social worker from the tribal areas, said though the announcement has encouraged tribal people but women should be given their due share in the merged districts. 

“It is really tragic that neither the previous nor the sitting government has any project to empower women folk. I urge the quarters concerned to promote female education and focus on their skill building to contribute in the society building process,” she added.

Qayyum Nawaz, a tribal elder from South Waziristan tribal district, said the fresh initiative by the prime minister has earned the hearts of tribal people who went through unspeakable problems in the backdrop of war on terror that plagued the entire lawless region.

“This is a huge favor which will help tribal masses get some direly needed facilities at their doorstep. But what we demand is that the government should work out some modalities to spend the funds judiciously otherwise it will end up into the pocket of corrupt elements within the government,” Nawaz stressed. 

Last Friday, the prime minister had told a gathering in Bajaur tribal district that his government would bring a new era of prosperity after launching Sehat Insaf Card Scheme for people of tribal districts.

Going a step forward to remove backwardness of the region, the premier had asked all the four provinces to give three percent of their share of the National Finance Commission award, a program aimed at fixing financial imbalances among the center and provinces, to the northwestern tribal belt.

Malik Salahuddin Afridi, another tribal elder, said the government had a series of announcement, promising rebuilding of tribal region but people haven’t seen changes on the ground.

The latest allocation of funds by the premier, he said was enough to develop the entire tribal areas but there should be proper accountability of the money being spent in tribal areas. 

Earlier during his Bajaur tribal district visit, the prime minister had said that his government had approved Rs. 2 billion in loans for the tribal youth on zero markup and easy installments to help young people establish their own businesses.