A former chief of Intelligence Bureau (IB), Masood Sharif Khattak, on Friday called for an independent Planning Commission (PC), sans political intervention, to undertake uplift schemes with special focus on the areas that have been ignored in the past.
Speaking at a news conference here at National Press Club, he said that the PC is the only government body responsible for approving multi-billion rupees mega projects, but was being influenced by some powerful politicians and bureaucrats. He suggested setting up of an independent planning commission, on the pattern of judiciary, that could undertake development projects across the board, particularly in areas that have been ignored for the last six decades.
The former IB chief raised serious objections to what he called the over-concentration of uplift projects in selected areas, and added that it was high time to free the 53-year-old Planning Commission of political influence. He said that the government should adopt a uniform policy for undertaking development projects, focusing on the neglected areas of Gilgit-Baltistan, Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan.
He expressed the view that undertaking multi-billion dollars luxury projects in Islamabad did not augur well for the federation. He opined that the major cause of deprivation and sense of alienation among people in neglected areas of the country was that development projects were not launched on the basis of equality. He warned that the deprived people of backward areas would march on Islamabad, and said that the country could witness a bloody revolution if authorities continued to turn a blind eye towards the development of neglected areas.
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