Prime Minister’s approval required for appointments and transfers; 48-member development council approved as revival of former FATA Secretariat is considered
KOHAT, October 20, 2026 : The federal government has introduced a new administrative mechanism for postings and transfers of government employees in 12 designated districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa following the imposition of Governor’s Rule and an emergency in the province, making the Prime Minister’s approval mandatory for such decisions, according to official correspondence.
In a letter addressed to the Secretary of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Elementary and Secondary Education Department (E&SED), the Area Development Secretariat (ADS) referred to Proclamation Order No. 2-2/2026-Min-1, dated October 11, 2026, and stated that further postings and transfers in the designated districts could be ordered by the Prime Minister, on the recommendation of the Administrator, from time to time, in accordance with paragraph 5 of the order.
The letter directs the provincial department to process subsequent posting and transfer cases concerning the designated districts in accordance with the prescribed procedure, including obtaining the Administrator’s recommendation and the Prime Minister’s approval.
In a separate development, Dr. Syed Sarfaraz Ali Shah, Adviser to the Governor of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on Mines and Minerals, has written to the Secretary of the provincial Mines and Minerals Department, directing that no posting, transfer, deputation, additional charge or similar administrative arrangement involving officers and officials of the relevant departments and attached offices be made without his prior clearance.
The directive covers the Mineral Development Department, the Directorate General of Mines and Minerals, the Mines Labor Welfare Commissionerate, the Inspectorate of Mines and their attached offices.
According to the letter, all relevant cases will be processed under the applicable rules and submitted to the competent authority for consideration and approval.
Official sources said the Additional Chief Secretary (Designated Districts) would prepare recommendations in the capacity of Administrator. Final orders concerning postings and transfers would be issued following approval by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, in accordance with the applicable directives.
The 12 designated districts are Dera Ismail Khan, Tank, Lakki Marwat, Bannu, Bajaur, Mohmand, Khyber, Kurram, Orakzai, North Waziristan, South Waziristan Upper and South Waziristan Lower.
Under the reported federal government decision, an Area Development Secretariat (ADS) has been established to oversee administrative and development-related affairs in these districts. The secretariat is headed by an Additional Chief Secretary, who will also serve as Administrator.
The secretariat will oversee the functioning of the 48-member Area Representative Development Council (ARDC), whose establishment has been approved and whose membership list has been finalized, according to official correspondence.
Under the reported administrative framework, the Administrator will exercise specified administrative, security and development-related powers of the provincial government and will be authorized to issue directions to the civil administration, police and law-enforcement agencies within the scope of the applicable directives.
As part of the implementation process, the Area Development Secretariat has also written to the provincial Education Department, directing it to obtain the Administrator’s recommendation and the Prime Minister’s approval for relevant appointment orders concerning the designated districts.
The new arrangements follow the imposition of Governor’s Rule and an emergency in the designated areas, resulting in changes to the administrative procedures governing these districts.
Former FATA Secretariat may be revived
Meanwhile, official sources said work had begun on a proposal to revive the former Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) Secretariat and restore its administrative functions.
Under the proposed arrangement, senior administrative and law-enforcement officials, including the Additional Chief Secretary and the Additional Inspector General of Police, along with other senior officials and heads of directorates, are expected to establish their offices at the secretariat.
The proposed revival is intended to strengthen administrative coordination, improve oversight of development projects and facilitate the delivery of public services in the former tribal areas.
The history of the former FATA Secretariat building on Warsak Road in Peshawar is closely linked to changes in the administrative arrangements for the tribal areas.
According to available accounts, the building, situated on an expansive tract of land, was originally occupied by the Irrigation and Public Health Engineering departments, whose offices remained there for many years.
Sources said that following the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in the United States and the subsequent US-led military intervention in Afghanistan, the government vacated the building and established offices of the Governor’s Secretariat there as part of efforts to administer the tribal areas through a separate administrative arrangement.
Before the establishment of a dedicated administrative structure, development planning for the tribal areas was handled by the FATA section of the Planning and Development (P&D) Department of the then North-West Frontier Province (NWFP), while implementation was carried out by the relevant government line departments.
A separate administrative structure was subsequently developed for the tribal areas, including the Administration, Infrastructure and Coordination (AN&C) Department. This arrangement eventually became known as the FATA Secretariat.
Until 2002, development planning in the tribal areas was managed by the FATA section of the then NWFP’s P & D Department, while the relevant line departments were responsible for implementing development projects.
In 2006, the FATA Secretariat was formally established under the leadership of an Additional Chief Secretary. Its administrative structure included four secretaries and more than 10 directorates, which assumed responsibility for a range of administrative and decision-making functions relating to the tribal areas.
Through its attached directorates, the secretariat provided public services in several sectors, including health, education, forestry, fisheries, irrigation, water supply, livestock and dairy development, minerals, technical education, agriculture, sports, social welfare, roads and other infrastructure.
The FATA Disaster Management Authority (FDMA) and the FATA Development Authority (FDA) operated as separate entities with their respective functional responsibilities. Their administrative reporting arrangements and institutional relationships should be verified against the official organizational structure in force at the relevant time. FDA was dissolved in August 2019 by the KP Govt.
The Governor’s Secretariat of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa also played a coordinating role between the federal and provincial governments and the administrative structure governing the former FATA.
The Federally Administered Tribal Areas were a semi-autonomous region in northwestern Pakistan that remained under a distinct federal administrative arrangement from the country’s independence in 1947 until their merger with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in 2018.
The region comprised seven tribal agencies Bajaur, Mohmand, Khyber, Orakzai, Kurram, North Waziristan and South Waziristan and six Frontier Regions (FRs): FR Peshawar, FR Kohat, FR Bannu, FR Lakki Marwat, FR Tank and FR Dera Ismail Khan. The areas operated under a special legal framework that included the Frontier Crimes Regulation (FCR).
The constitutional integration process gained momentum in May 2018. The National Assembly approved the relevant constitutional amendment on May 24, followed by the Senate on May 25. The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly subsequently approved the amendment on May 27.
On May 28, 2018, the President signed the FATA Interim Governance Regulation, providing an interim administrative framework for the region. The Twenty-fifth Constitutional Amendment received presidential assent on May 31, 2018, formally integrating the former tribal areas into Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
The merger brought the former tribal areas under the provincial administrative structure and ended their previous status as a separately administered federal territory.
The proposed revival of the former FATA Secretariat, alongside the new administrative arrangements for the 12 designated districts, could mark a significant change in the organization of governance and development administration in these areas.
The proposed structure is expected to provide a central mechanism for coordinating administrative decisions, monitoring development initiatives and facilitating public service delivery.
However, the precise scope of the secretariat’s authority, its relationship with the provincial government and the extent of the powers delegated to the Administrator will depend on the applicable legal provisions and official notifications.
The revival proposal, therefore, remains an important administrative development to watch, particularly in view of the changes being introduced in the governance of the designated districts. Its practical implications will become clearer once the relevant arrangements are formally notified and implemented.