PESHAWAR: Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Attaullah Tarar has questioned the use of funds allocated to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa under the National Finance Commission (NFC) Award for expenses related to the war on terror, saying the province has been receiving the allocation annually for years.
Addressing a press conference at the Peshawar Press Club on Tuesday, Tarar said the NFC mechanism had been in place for 16 years and asked where the billions of rupees allocated for maintaining law and order and counterterrorism in the province had been spent.
Under the 7th NFC Award, which took effect in 2010 and remains in force in the absence of a successor award, KP was allocated an additional one percent of the undivided divisible pool to meet expenses related to the war on terror. Official documents describe the allocation as recognition of the province’s role as a frontline region in the fight against terrorism.
The Finance Ministry said in December 2025 that KP had received Rs705 billion in additional transfers for war-on-terror-related expenditures between July 2010 and November 2025, alongside its regular NFC share. The ministry also said the 7th NFC framework, including the additional allocation for KP, continued to apply because subsequent NFC awards had not been finalized.
Tarar’s remarks come as KP continues to face a persistent terrorism challenge, particularly in its border districts, with security forces and police regularly conducting operations against terrorist groups. The National Assembly also reported successful counterterrorism operations in KP and Balochistan earlier this month.
The federal minister said KP needed greater attention to development and questioned the province’s performance despite having been governed by the same political force for more than 12 years. He said provincial resources should be used for the public rather than for political protests and maintained that the federal government would not allow anyone to disrupt public order.
Tarar began his visit to KP in Kohat, where he met people injured in a recent security incident and families of those martyred. He said he found the morale of the victims’ families high and recalled the father of martyred police constable Faheemullah expressing pride in his son’s sacrifice.
The minister also highlighted the sacrifices of journalists and media workers in KP during the war on terror. He said a database would be prepared of journalists and media workers who had been martyred while performing their duties, as well as those who died during service, and that a mechanism would be developed for their families. He also called for health insurance for journalists in Peshawar.
On the media sector, Tarar said Radio Pakistan Peshawar, whose building was set on fire during the May 9 violence, had been fully restored on the prime minister’s instructions. He said its facilities should remain accessible to journalists, including for recording podcasts and vlogs.
The minister also said Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had spoken by telephone with Jamaat-e-Islami Emir Hafiz Naeemur Rehman, who, according to Tarar, had said he would consult on postponing the planned long march.
Tarar further said discounted petrol was being provided across Pakistan to motorcycles, Qingqi rickshaws and other three-wheelers as part of a relief initiative, which he said was providing billions of rupees in relief to citizens.
Regarding PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar, Tarar questioned where decision-making authority lay within the party, saying Gohar neither had the authority to make decisions nor the authority to implement them.
His comments on the NFC allocation add a financial dimension to the ongoing debate over KP’s security situation, with the province continuing to receive a dedicated transfer under the NFC framework intended to address the costs associated with the war on terror. The issue of how those funds are utilized remains part of the broader federal-provincial debate over security financing and accountability in KP.
