It seems that things have at last started moving in the right direction insofar as the bringing of the people of Federally-Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) into the mainstream in all respects is concerned.
Quite obviously all these measures will involve massive development efforts and finances which will be provided through allocation of additional resources out of the divisible pool of resources after consensus and concurrence of all stakeholders.
It is also good to note that a National Implementation Committee headed by no less a person than the prime minister has already been constituted for overseeing the political, legal, administrative and developmental mainstreaming of the FATA.
To the best of memory of this scribe, the federal cabinet in its meeting in January 2017 had taken a number of decisions topped by merger of FATA with Khyber Pukhtoonkhwah (KP).
It is hoped and expected that the bill for the extension of jurisdiction of the superior judiciary to FATA will be tabled before the Parliament without any further loss of time and after its passage enforcement process will commence in the right earnest. People of FATA are keenly awaiting all these and more measures which will bring them into mainstream in all respects at the earliest time possible.
ASMAAR BILAL
Lahore
