Farmers seek govt’s help in locust attacks

KARAK: Farmers Association, Karak chapter, has shown concern over the increasing number of locusts in the district.

The farmers held a meeting, with district president Iqbal Khattak in the chair here on Saturday. The participants said that locusts in large numbers were staying in different parts of the district for the last one month and they had even laid eggs from which now they have given birth to new locusts in very large numbers.

The farmers claimed that the locusts had played havoc with crops in Punjab and now were causing damage in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and warned that if the locusts continued the devastation of crops, vegetables and fruit orchards, there would be a starvation like situation in the country.

They regretted the lukewarm response of the government about the locusts’ attacks and claimed that there was no mechanism in place on the part of the government to tackle the issue.

Reopening of schools demanded

Private Schools Association has demanded to reopen all educational institutions under the anti-corona Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) and warned to devise their future line of action on June 5.

This was demanded by the association office-bearers Haider Zameer and others while talking to media persons here on Saturday. They said that precious time of students was being wasted. They claimed that the educational institutions could be run very effectively with the SOPs and recalled that the government had already opened markets, interprovincial transport and other trade activities with SOPs, which is why there should be no hesitation in opening the educational institutions.

They said that more than 1,50,000 private schools’ teachers have been rendered jobless as the educational institutions could not bear the expenses of the salaries of the teachers.