Chief Minister Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Mahmood Khan Terms Merger Of Erstwhile FATA As Turning Point

Chief Minister Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Mahmood Khan has termed the merger of erstwhile FATA into Khyber Pakhtunkhwa as a turning point in the development and prosperity of the tribal people

PESHAWAR, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 6th Jan, 2023 ) :Chief Minister Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Mahmood Khan has termed the merger of erstwhile FATA into Khyber Pakhtunkhwa as a turning point in the development and prosperity of the tribal people.

He was addressing a meeting of the elected public representatives from the newly merged districts here at Chief Minister's House, Peshawar. Former Federal minister for religious affairs Noor-ul-Haq Qadri, provincial ministers Anwar Zeb and Iqbal Wazir, other members of National and Provincial Assemblies from NMDs attended the meeting.

Addressing the participants, the Chief Minister said that the provincial government has successfully completed the merger process despite numerous challenges. "In most of the merged districts, the provincial government had to start from zero because no attention was paid to the development of these areas in the past," he said and added that a new era of development has been started in the merged districts by introducing special development programs for redressing the decades-long deprivations of the tribal people.

Chief Minister said that the incumbent provincial government has taken concrete steps to bring the people of the newly merged districts into mainstream adding that after the merger of erstwhile FATA into Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, provincial departments have been extended to the newly merged districts and an especial development programme has been initiated with the sole purpose to address their longstanding deprivations.

The Chief Minister said that the incumbent provincial government, during the last four years, has taken multiple steps resulting in significant improvement in the overall Services Delivery System.

Despite multiple challenges, the provincial government has proved that it is not only committed to the development and prosperity of tribal districts but has gone beyond its capacity for this purpose. Absorption of Levies and Khasadars into regular police, regularization of ex-FATA project employees and provision of medical equipment and emergency medicine are among the important initiatives completed by his government.

Besides, significant measures in the education sector including provision of scholarships to male and female students of merged districts, recruitment of new teachers, solarization of schools, construction of playgrounds, establishment and up-gradation of educational institutions alongside establishing science and IT laboratories. Other important steps for the development including construction and rehabilitation of roads, establishment of micro hydro plants, construction of new grid stations, installation of transformers and feeders etc have also been initiated.