Press Release Title: Senator Hilal Ur Rehman, Chairman Senate Standing Committee on States and Frontier Regions Presiding over a Meeting of the Committee at Parliament House, Islamabad

Press Release Date: 4th January, 2024

A Meeting of Senate Standing Committee on States and Frontier Regions was held at Parliament House on Thursday with Senator Hilal ur Rehman in Chair. The Senate Committee deliberated on the absorption of 23 Khasadars from Orakzai District and 8 Khasadars from Bajaur District. Officials stated that the 23 Khasadars from Orakzai District have been absorbed, but the 8 Khasadars from Bajaur District could not be absorbed as they retired before the absorption process. Senator Hidayat Ullah remarked that the Chief Minister of KPK ordered the absorption of Khasadars and Levies on April 4, 2019, but the personnel retired in July 2019. Additional Chief Secretary KPK, Syed Imtiaz H Shah, explained that the Act for the absorption of personnel was enacted in September 2019, and personnel who retired before the enactment of the act could not fall within the ambit of absorption. The Committee directed to seek legal opinions on the act to determine if there is any way out for the absorption of the 8 Khasadars. While discussing the implementation status of Committee recommendations concerning the absorption of 91 Khasadars from South Waziristan, officials stated that the absorption had not been recommended by the Validating Committee, as the personnel failed to submit the required documents against their claims. The Committee directed the Police Department KPK to reconsider the matter and submit a report in the next meeting. Furthermore, the committee took up the matter of Rs. 1.5 Billion released by the Federal Government out of AIP funds to the Relief and Rehabilitation Department KPK for the payment of damaged public houses in South Waziristan. Officials stated that Rs. 1.5 Billion should be shifted to the current account from the development account, as there are no development schemes for South Waziristan. The Finance Ministry apprised that several requests had been made, but P&D didn’t respond, and most importantly, there is no way to transfer Rs. 1.5 Billion from the development to the current account. The Committee recommended the Finance Ministry to find a possible solution to the matter. Additionally, the committee was briefed on the objectives of the Merged Areas Governance Programme (MAGP-II). Officials informed that this $44 Million program is funded by the UNDP and mainly focuses on border governance, support of local governance, and the delivery of basic services. The program is directly executed by the UNDP without the coordination of KPK. Senator Sania Nishtar inquired about the on-ground details of the scheme, but the officials failed to provide any concrete response. Senator Hilal ur Rehman remarked that the scheme is clearly a fraud, as local administration and the Home Department KPK have no knowledge of this scheme, and there’s no way to identify the scheme. The Committee decided to form a Sub-Committee on the matter to address the concerns of the members. Moreover, the committee discussed the implementation status of the recommendations made by the Sub-Committee regarding the mandatory use of GIS system, mandatory end-to-end digital procurement, and the installation of a biometric verification system. The Committee expressed dissatisfaction and directed the KPK government to make efforts for the utilization of digital procurement as it paves the way for good governance. In attendance were Senator Dost Muhammad Khan,Senator Sania Nishtar,Senator Hidayat Ullah, Secretary SAFRON Pervaiz Ahmed Junejo,Additional Chief Secretary KPK Syed Imitiaz H. Shah and other senior officials of relevant departments were also in attendance.