ISLAMABAD: Senate Standing Committee on States and Frontier Regions (SAFRON) was informed that on the special directions of Prime Minister Imran Khan, Rs.41 bn were released for the uplift of newly merged tribal districts with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) in April, ARY News reported.
The Senate body on SAFRON met with Taj Afridi in the chair at Parliament House in Islamabad today. Briefing the Senate committee, SAFRON secretary said that the federal government, KP and Punjab were agreed to give tribal districts three per cent of National Finance Commission Award (NFC-Award).
Speaking on the occasion, Senator Shammin Afirdi said that the tribal districts were granted five-year tax exemption.
Read More: Rs18.4bn released for reconstruction of 57,000 houses in tribal districts
Ministry of Planning and Development’s official told the Senate body that Rs.31bn development projects were proposed in erstwhile FATA during next year. He said that separate budget was allocated for local body elections in the tribal districts. He said that Rs3460 million would be spent on quality education in the newly merged districts.
Ministry of Finance Secretary said that funds for tribal districts would directly transferred to KP government.
Tribal Electricity Supply Company’s (TESCO) officials also briefed the committee on the issue of tax exemption and electricity supply to the tribal areas.
The Senate committee sought details of development projects in the tribal districts form SAFRON.
 was informed that on the special directions of Prime Minister Imran Khan, Rs.41 bn were released for the uplift of newly merged tribal districts with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) in April.){kind=link}