The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government has decided to formally take up with the federal government its concerns over the proposed imposition of taxes in the merged districts and former Provincially Administered Tribal Areas (PATA), as well as prolonged electricity load shedding across the province. The decision was taken at a meeting between Chief Minister Muhammad Sohail Khan Afridi and a delegation of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) parliamentarians and senior party leaders at the Chief Minister’s House on Thursday.
Delegation Expresses Concerns Over Taxes and Power Outages
Participants expressed concern over the proposed extension of federal taxes to the merged districts and former PATA, alongside persistent unannounced power outages and low voltage affecting consumers in different parts of the province. The meeting decided that the provincial government would initially convey its concerns to the federal government through an official letter addressing both the proposed taxation measures and electricity-related issues.
Chief Minister Directs Joint Meeting of Power Companies
The chief minister also directed that a joint meeting of the Peshawar Electric Supply Company (PESCO), Tribal Electric Supply Company (TESCO) and Hazara Electric Supply Company (HESCO) be convened to discuss unscheduled load shedding, low voltage and other electricity supply problems.
Allegations of Unfulfilled Commitments
Addressing the meeting, the chief minister alleged that the federal government had failed to fulfil its commitments towards the merged districts by withholding their due share under the National Finance Commission, the Accelerated Implementation Programme and other budgetary allocations. He further claimed that the proposed taxation measures were contrary to earlier assurances that no taxes would be imposed until the districts achieved development levels comparable with the rest of the country.
PTI Delegation Opposes Taxes, Highlights Public Hardship
Members of the delegation also opposed the proposed taxes, describing them as unjustified, and voiced concern over prolonged electricity outages despite Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s substantial contribution to national power generation. They said persistent load shedding and low voltage had intensified public hardship during the summer.
Chief Minister Reaffirms Commitment to Rights
The chief minister reaffirmed the provincial government’s commitment to pursuing what he described as the constitutional, economic and developmental rights of the people of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, particularly those living in the merged districts. The delegation included PTI parliamentarians Asad Qaiser, Junaid Akbar, Atif Khan, Shehram Tarakai, Shandana Gulzar, Saleem Ur Rehman, Sahibzada Sibghatullah, Mehboob Ur Rehman, Anwar Taj, Dr Amjad and Sajid Mohmand, as well as senior party leaders Shaukat Yousafzai and Arbab Jehandad.
