Progress on plan for merged districts discussed

PESHAWAR: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Secretary Muhammad Saleem Khan chaired a meeting here Wednesday to take stock of the progress made so far on the 10 years development plan for the newly-merged tribal district.

According to an official handout, the meeting was arranged on the directives of Chief Minister Mahmood Khan. The special focus was the directives and announcements made by PM Imran Khan during his recent visit to Bajaur and Mohmand districts. Besides additional Chief Secretary Shahzad Bangash, administrative secretaries of the departments concerned and other relevant officials attended the meeting. It merits a mention here that important announcements and directives of the prime minister during his recent visit to the two tribal districts included the disbursement of 3 per cent NFC to the erstwhile Fata , access to justice in the tribal districts, provisions of 3G,4G mobile Internet services to Bajaur, service structures for Khassadars/Levies force, devising a media and communication strategy to disseminate the narrative of the government to the people of the area. Other announcements were completion of Barang tunnel to connect Bajaur with Swat Expressway, provision of special funds for promotions of sports in tribal districts, provision of loans worth Rs 2 billion to the youth of the area, establishment of industrial zone in Bajaur, promotion of small industries, solarisation of 300 mosques and extension of Sehat Sahulat programme to the deserving families of Mohmand.Addressing the participants of the meeting, the chief secretary remarked that fast track development of the erstwhile Fata was on top of the priority list of both the federal and provincial governments. He directed the departments concerned to take results-oriented steps to ensure the implementation of the prime minister’s directives/announcements side by side the timely completion of other routine developmental schemes in the merged districts.