Fata University inaugurated at Darra Adamkhel

Governor hopes Senate will pass Fata reforms report

PESHAWAR: Khyber Pakhtun- khwa Governor Iqbal Zafar Jhagra said on Monday that the Fata Reforms Committee report would soon be passed by the Senate to ensure a prosperous future for the tribal people.

Inaugurating the newly established Fata University at Darra Adamkhel in the Frontier Region Kohat, he said the report compiled after taking all stakeholders into confidence had already been passed by the National Assembly.

The classes at the Fata University had started on October 24, but its formal inauguration took place on Monday.Flanked by Federal Minister for States and Frontier Regions (Safron) Lt Gen (R) Abdul Qadir Baloch, elected representatives, tribal elders, and officers and staff of the university, the Governor recalled the services and sacrifices of the tribal people, security officials and others and vowed to provide every facility to make the university useful for all tribal agencies by extending its services.

Appreciating efforts of the tribespeople and security officials for restoring peace in Fata, he said the establishment of the university and its affiliated campuses in all the tribal agencies would spread the rays of higher education and help overcome challenges posed by anti-state and anti-social elements.

The government, he said, would ensure reconstruction of infrastructure in militancy-hit Fata and rehabilitate the displaced people as 90 percent of them have already been repatriated to their native areas.

The governor maintained that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was taking keen interest in development of the tribal areas deprived of basic necessities of life.He said that after the approval of the Fata Reforms Committee report, the tribal representatives would be able to legislate for their people and prepare the budget for their areas.

“We would develop Fata like the settled areas. The government would ensure holding of local government elections in the tribal areas and provide adequate funds for development,” Governor Jhagra promised.

He praised the tribal people for making efforts to eradicate polio from Fata.Federal Minister Abdul Qadir Baloch, who had especially come to congratulate the tribal people on the establishment of the Fata University, said they could change the fate of their nation through education.

He said peace had been restored in Fata after success of the Operation Zarb-e-Azb and the people would now concentrate on education and development of their respective areas. The minister said Rs100 billion had been allocated for the development in Fata while another Rs4 to 5 billion had been earmarked for every tribal agency.

He paid tributes to the services of retired army chief General Raheel Sharif, security officials and tribal people for rendering sacrifices for the restoration of peace.

Earlier, the governor and federal minister for Safron were warmly received and garlanded by the tribal elders and university staff members. The plan for setting up the university was conceived in 2008, but it got delayed due to insecurity, lack of consensus on its site, political wrangling, non-allocation of sufficient resources and the problems encountered in selecting its vice-chancellor.

The two previously chosen vice-chancellors - Prof Shafiqur Rahman and Mohammad Ashfaq Khattak - served briefly. Dr Mohammad Tahir Shah, a geologist at the University of Peshawar, was finally chosen some months ago and he managed to start classes at the university in late October. Only male students have sought admission in the university as no female student applied due to its location.