Speakers praise Senior Citizen Committees’ role

BARA: Speakers at a function here on Tuesday lauded the Senior Citizen Committees constituted by the Sarhad Rural Support Programme (SRSP) and HelpAge at the public level in the Bara tehsil of the Khyber district.

The programme was hosted at the Bara Press Club. SRSP Khyber Coordinator Sartaj Nabi, Education Department ASDEO Khan Faraz, Social Welfare Department’s Hafeezullah, Khyber Ushr and Zakat Department Waleed Khan, Khidmat Khalq Welfare Society Sipah tribe Maqbali Khan and others attended the programme.

The speakers called for recognizing the services of the elderly people to the government institutions, including their role and importance in society. The role of the committees in the development and law and order of the area was highlighted as well. The speakers said 65 committees had been formed with people from different tribes.

They said these committees had done a lot of work in other areas of life such as agriculture, drinking water, cash for work and education after receiving projects worth millions of rupees from various departments.

The speakers said many land, roads, forest and household disputes were resolved in the area and uninhabited lands were subjected to agricultural use. These committees played a role in eliminating rabies in domestic animals as well.

They said the committees had done a lot of work for the girls’ education. The committees undertook the responsibility for the transport of girls after getting them enrolled in different schools.

The speakers said that all these works were due to the efforts of SRSP done through Senior Citizens Committees in different tribes of the region. Later, the official of the SRSP, Sartaj Nabi said that the organisation had launched work in 2015 when the displaced people returned to native areas in the Bara tehsil of the Khyber district.

He said the SRSP had launched work in different community development projects, including drinking water, irrigation, water channels, education and others with the help of the district administration.

“We want to improve the life of the affected people who have suffered during militancy, particularly in the Bara sub-division,” he pointed out.The official said that SRSP with the help of UNHCR had registered the displaced people who returned to native towns from Jalozai Camp or other areas.He said the SRSP had provided various technical skills and jobs to the youths after their return to their hometowns displaced.