Afridi alleged that federations deliberately discriminated against KP in the distribution of the NFC award
ISLAMABAD:
Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi on Tuesday announced a province-wide penne-down strike on Wednesday (today), ordering government employees to stop routine administrative work in protest against what the provincial government termed the Centre’s “discriminatory treatment” in economic and constitutional matters.
In an official statement, Afridi alleged that the federation deliberately discriminated against Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in the distribution of the National Finance Commission (NFC) Award as well as in electricity and gas allocations, claiming that the province was targeted because it is ruled by a PTI-led administration.
“The federation is deliberately discriminating against Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa in NFC Award, electricity and gas allocations. A province-wide pen-down strike will be observed on May 6. Emergency services will remain exempt,” the statement read.
The chief minister also appealed to lawyers to join the protest, describing it as a step to “protect the constitution and the rule of law.”
The appeal to the legal fraternity and the reference to constitutional protection comes amid wider political tensions, with the KP government in recent weeks also raising concerns related to PTI leadership, including issues involving Imran Khan and Bushra Bibi.
The strike is announced amid a series of engagements between the provincial and federal governments over financial transfers and constitutional tax arrangements that have been a bone of contention in recent months.
The NFC dispute dates back to the 2009–10 award, but KP’s grievances intensified after the 2018 amalgamation of tribal districts, which increased demands for federal funding. The issue resurfaced in 2026 through formal communication and high-level meetings between the two sides.
On 15 January 2026, Chief Minister Afridi wrote to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif raising concern over delays in federal transfers under the NFC Award, particularly those related to merged districts.
The matter was raised in a meeting between the Prime Minister and Afridi on 2 February 2026, focusing on NFC transfers, outstanding federal dues to KP and coordination of governance and security issues.
Differences continued, however, and on 26 March the KP government walked out of a meeting of the NFC sub-group on merged districts after other provinces objected to including the region’s population in the resource allocation formula, a move that could have increased the province’s share from 14.62% to 18.96%.
