KP CM: NMDs issues to be resolved on priority

F.P. Report
PESHAWAR: In a bid to resolve the public issues of the people of newly merged districts by caretaker Chief Minister KP Muhammad Azam Khan, the third round of the weekly sessions for the people of merged districts was held here in Chief Minister’s House on Thursday.
A large number of people of the merged districts hailing from different walks of life attended the session and apprised the Chief Minister of the issues faced by them. The majority of those issues were related to education, health, road infrastructure and other sectors of public service delivery. senior Member Board of Revenue, Administrative secretaries of provincial departments and other relevant officials were also present on the occasion.
The chief minister listened to their issues attentively and directed the quarters concerned for necessary steps to resolve those issues on priority basis. The elders of merged districts lauded the initiative of the caretaker chief minister to hold weekly session with the people of merged districts, and said that this initiative will prove to be helpful in resolving the long-standing problems of the tribal people.
They said that merger of erstwhile FATA into Khyber Pakhtunkhwa was, no doubt, a good step, but the newly merged districts were still suffering from multiple challenges needing special attention of both the federal and provincial governments. They also demanded of the federal government that development funds of the merged districts including those of the Accelerated Implementation Program (AIP) should be released without any delay so that long-lasting issues and deprivations of the merged districts could be redressed.
Addressing on the occasion, the Chief Minister said that such weekly sessions will continue to be held in future as well adding that progress was underway to resolve the issues put forward by the people of merged districts in the first two round of the sessions.
The chief minister further said that the caretaker provincial government was going all out to get the constitutional rights of merged districts adding that the issue regarding nonpayment of funds for NMDs has been taken up with the federal government. “People of the merged districts have been suffered a lot for the last four decades and the caretaker provincial government was not only well aware of this but also making every possible effort to resolve their issues” he said and assured that all available resources would be utilized to complete the ongoing development projects in the newly merged districts.