Centre wants KP to manage, fund ex-Fata health card beneficiaries.

ISLAMABAD -- The federal government has asked Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to absorb the health card beneficiaries from the merged districts of erstwhile Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) into the province's Sehat Card Plus programme, as the Centre is going to discontinue funding for the tribal region's health insurance scheme by June 30.

The KP government has sharply reacted to the move, which comes after the Centre's decision to freeze the merged districts' budget for next year at the current fiscal levels.

On June 8, the Ministry of National Health Services, Regulation and Coordination had written to the KP health department that phase-II of the health insurance programme for the merged districts (except Khyber and Bajaur) was going to be completed by June 30, 2023. Therefore, it was requested to take immediate actions to execute the approval of the prime minister regarding harmonization of the health card packages to the arrangement dating back to February.

'The funding-related issues should be dealt with by the departments concerned of the KP government. The health ministry will fully support this effort,' the letter stated.

Province asks Islamabad to transfer necessary funds

In its response, the KP health department noted that the provincial government reaffirmed its interest to absorb the residents of the merged districts into the Sehat Card Plus programme and its 'capacity to service and expand the funds' necessary for the endeavour. However, this interest was contingent on the transfer of the amount by the federal finance division allocated for this purpose in the Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP).

The letter said all implementation-level arrangements had been finalised, including the data of the families ready to be absorbed into the KP Sehat Card Plus programme.

The health department also pointed out that the people of the merged districts did not factor into KP's share under the National Finance Commission (NFC) Award, hence it was imperative that the federal government shift its Sehat Sahulat programme for ex-Fata to the province along with the corresponding financial resources. 'In the event that these steps are not taken, the lack of Sehat Card Plus availability in the merged districts will not be the responsibility of the KP government,' it categorically said.

KP Health Minister Taimur Saleem Jhagra told Dawn that it was unacceptable that the federal government wanted the province to take over the ex-Fata health...