The House has now started discussion on “The Constitution (Amendment) Bill, 2019 aimed at increasing the number of tribal districts’ seats in the National Assembly and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly. Initiating the debate, Mohsin Dawar said appropriate representation should be given to the tribal districts both in the National Assembly and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly. He appreciated both the treasury and opposition benches for demonstrating consensus on the matters of tribal districts.

Khawaja Asif said the people of tribal districts have suffered immensely as a result of war on terrorism. He said the Federal and Provincial governments should allocate maximum resources for rehabilitation of tribal districts.

Defence Minister Pervaiz Khattak appreciated the sacrifices rendered by tribal people for security of Pakistan.

He said tribal districts have now become part of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, expressing the confidence that these districts will now see prosperity and development.

He said the provincial government is making efforts to establish education and health facilities besides police and courts in these areas in order to remove grievances of tribal people.

He said 100 billion rupees will be spent every year on the development of tribal districts.

Pervaiz Khattak said local government system will also be introduced in the tribal districts to address their problems at the grassroots level.

He said thirty percent of the total funds will be given to the local representatives so that the benefits of the development reach the community level.

He said the tribal districts will be given maximum representation in the provincial assembly. Minister for Religious Affairs Noorul Haq Qadri said the constitution amendment has been finalized after consultation with all political parties in the parliament and this is a major gift from the parliament to the tribal people. Minister of State for SAFRON Shehryar Khan Afridi said that under this Constitution Amendment, seats of tribal districts in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly have been enhanced to twenty four and in the National Assembly to twelve.

Members belonging to tribal districts hailed both the treasury and opposition benches for standing up in support of the tribal people and recognizing their rights. They expressed the confidence that other problems faced by the tribal people will also be addressed on priority basis.

The house has now been adjourned to meet again on Monday at twelve noon.