Justice Is Imperative For Establishment Of Balanced, Successful Society: Mahmood

PESHAWAR, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 4th Aug, 2020 ) :Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Mahmood Khan Tuesday said that justice was imperative for the establishment of a balanced and successful society. A society without justice cannot survive.

He said this while addressing the oath taking ceremony of the newly elected cabinet of High Court Bar Association Swat) Mingora Bench as chief guest during his one-day visit to district Swat.

He expressed the hope that people from legal fraternity will support the downtrodden segment. Positive criticism was the right of every citizen but the steps taken by the government for the public welfare should not be politicized and unnecessarily criticized, he added.

He said the development and prosperity of the whole province was priority of the incumbent government.

The chief minister said the economy has lost billions of rupees due to the coronavirus pandemic, but was now recovering. Prime Minister Imran Khan was concerned about vulnerable segment of society, he added.

He said that the smart lockdown policy is being appreciated all over the world. The government was moving in the right direction. All sections of society, including the legal community, must cooperate so that Pakistan can stand on its own feet.

The Chief Minister said some political opponents were propagating that the funds of Dir-Chitral Road were diverted to Swat Motorway. In fact, they have nothing to say, they were just trying to mislead the people. The fact was that the funds for any development project had never been transferred to another project, especially in the China Pakistan Economic Corridor projects.

Mahmood Khan clarified that the money for the purchase of land for Swat Motorway Phase II was to be paid by the Federal government. The project had been approved by ECNEC. The rest will be done by the provincial government itself.

The Chief Minister said positive criticism was everyone's right but propaganda should be avoided. He belongs to Swat but wants equal development of the whole province.

He said the biggest challenge to the present government was the integration of the former FATA into the province. The expansion of all institutions, including judiciary, to new districts, the integration of 28,000 levies into the police and the holding of provincial assembly elections were undoubtedly a historic achievement.

Referring to development strategies and projects, the chief minister said that the coronavirus pandemic had cost the economy billions of rupees but now it was moving towards recovery.

The provincial government had prepared a Rs 29 billion economic recovery plan "Azm-e-Naw". The goal was to revive the economy and solve the problems being faced by the people.

Referring to the ongoing development schemes for Swat district in the law and justice department, he said that under the annual development programme for the financial year 2020-21, 16 different projects had been taken in hand in Swat district at an estimated cost of Rs 1071.609 million.

He said work on five projects had been completed, eight projects were in progress while three schemes were in the process of approval. So far Rs 325.029 million had been spent on these projects.

The chief minister said additional funds were provided for the purchase of land in connection with the establishment of Khawaza Khel Judicial Complex while additional funds had been released for acquisition of land for setting up of Matta Judicial Complex.

Similarly, he said the Judicial Complex Bahrain project had been completed while land purchase scheme for Judicial Lodges in Malam Jabba was also part of the current annual development program. Construction of a bachelor hostel for judicial officers has been completed for Swat in June 2020.

He said the plan to build rooms for the High Court Bar Swat was also part of the current ADP adding that the cost of the project is Rs 12.243 million.

A new scheme for construction of courtroom in Gulkada Swat had also been approved which would cost Rs 21.500 million, the chief minister informed. Similarly he elaborated that work was underway on the tender for the project.

He said two schemes for construction of various tehsil complexes in Swat were part of ADP with a total cost of Rs 210 million and work had been started on the preparation of PC-1 of the schemes, Mahmood Khan concluded.