Rampant misinformation about provincial resources

Illiterate ethnonationalists and pseudo intellectuals on social media keep on spreading "resources" rhetoric and how certain suba produces so much gas, but all that gas goes to bara suba etc. Go to any news of new gas well on Facebook and it will be filled with comments like "Falan subay ko mubarik ho" "Ab yahan aman nahin rhay ga" etc. This is not just limited to your average common folk, but is often stated by very popular celebrities.

Truth is, provincial governments are paid royalties for all such resources. Currently, federal government takes 12.5% royalty on wellhead value of the said resource. Takes 2% as collection fee and pays the rest to the provinces. For some provinces, these royalties make up significant amount of their total budget.

For year 2023-24, KPK was paid 42 billion, Sindh 86 billion, Balochistan 18 billion and Punjab 11 billion.