Major laws yet to take effect in PATA, Malakand

PESHAWAR: Even though the incumbent Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa assembly has adopted 138 bills over the past four years, the provincial government is still struggling to extend the scope of the ensuing laws to the Provincially-Administered tribal Areas (PATA) or to Malakand Division because of “a lack of interest on the part of the relevant departments”.

These bills feature completely new laws, existing federal laws adopted after the 18th constitutional amendment and amended laws already enforced in the province.

Only 28 bills passed by the existing assembly have so far been extended to the PATA or the seven districts of the Malakand Division. Under Article 247-3 of the Constitution, the laws enacted by the provincial assemblies cannot be applied to the PATA unless endorsed by governor after approval by president.
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Details provided by the K-P Home and Tribal Affairs Division show that laws like the Right to Information Act, Public Private Partnership Act, Prevention Conflict Of Interest Act, Universities (Amendment) Act and Public Procurement Regulatory Authority Act as well as those related to health, Auqaf, home, revenue, education and environment department are still not applied to the PATA.

The K-P government blames the Centre “for delay in the extension of the laws” to the PATA or Malakand Division while the provincial law department says that administrative departments concerned were least interested.

Provincial information secretary Arshad Majeed was not aware if the Right to Information Act covered PATA when contacted by this correspondent. “I have no information about it,” he said.

Muhammad Faheem, a Peshawar-based journalist, was unable to get information on water supply schemes executed in Malakand Division when he tried to obtain the same under the Right to Information (RTI) Act.

“I was disappointed when the officer concerned told me that PATA does not comes under the ambit of the RTI law and he, therefore, cannot provide relevant information,” he said.

Unable to legislate for the welfare of their own areas, as many as 33 PATA representatives have persistently been raising the issue.

According to Dr Haider Ali of the PTI, lawmakers from Malakand Division form one-fourth of the assembly’s total strength, but they are unable to make laws for their constituents.

“We formulated the very laws for good governance such as the RTI law and the law on conflict of interest, but the people of Malakand are unable to benefit from them,” said Ali, adding that politicisation delayed approval of many laws at the federal level.

Sources in the provincial law department said that the federal government had not objected to any of the bills sent for presidential approval. They insisted that administrative departments concerned were delaying the matter and not forwarding the bills for approval.

“The ministry of law and justice has sent their observations over the health department laws, asking the department concerned to check if PATA hospitals have the required facilities. Otherwise, there is no objection from the federal government,” said a senior official of the provincial law department.

According to the procedure, the administrative department concerned had to request the provincial home department. Subsequently, it would submit a summary before the chief minister, and then the law department would send the same to the ministry of SAFRON through the K-P governor for presidential approval.

Source: The Express Tribune