PESHAWAR: Provincial health and education ministers on Saturday paid their first visit to North and South Waziristan districts since they were merged with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province earlier this year, and announced various social development projects.
In May, Pakistan's parliament passed legislation to merge the country’s tribal belt along the Afghan border with the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, a key step to ending the region’s colonial era governance system.
The KP health and education ministers announced multiple development projects during the visit to “compensate the tribal people for their matchless sacrifices during the years long military operation against militant."
The semi-autonomous region consists of seven big districts and six towns known as the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) and has been governed for over 150 years by colonial era laws. Over the past decade, Pakistan’s army has carried out many operations in FATA against militant groups that have used these areas as launching pads for attacks in Pakistan and across the border in Afghanistan.
After arriving in Miran Shah, the headquarters of North Waziristan, KP Health Minister Hisham Inamullah visited the District Headquarters Hospital and announced the appointment of lady doctors and a gynecologist and the creation of new vacancies for female staff in the female ward of the hospital.
Abdullah Shah, a tribal elder told Arab News by phone, that the minister also pledged to provide the hospital with state-of-the-art equipment and announced the upgrade of a hospital in Razmak.
“The minister announced Insaf Health Cards for the people of North Waziristan and announced the setting up of a trauma center, CT scan, dialysis and thalassemia centers at the main hospital,” another tribal elder Ali Jan said, referring to a public health insurance card.
Earlier, in his briefing to the visiting guests, Agency Surgeon Dr. Muhammad Younas said that 77 percent of health centers in the area were functional while 29 were non-functional.
Inamullah said the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf government was committed to making all health centers functional without further delay.
Separately, the KP Education Minister Ziaullah Bangash visited the adjacent South Waziristan tribal district where he announced the upgrade of the decades-old Government High School Wana.
Responding to widespread complaints about the existence of over 300 ghost schools in the tribal areas, the minister pledged that all resources would be employed to make these educational institutions functional.
“Past governments have ignored the development of the tribal region, but we are committed to bolstering the education sector here in line with the vision of Prime Minister Imran Khan,” Bangash told tribal elders.
Ministers pay first visit to tribal belt since their merger with rest of country
Ministers pay first visit to tribal belt since their merger with rest of country
- In May, Pakistan passed law to align tribal regions with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
- Health and education ministers announce various uplift projects
Pakistan reviews austerity measures amid Middle East crisis, urges strict nationwide implementation
- Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar chairs review meeting of austerity steps
- Officials briefed on salary cuts, school closures, four‑day week, petrol conservation
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s government on Wednesday assessed progress on a sweeping set of austerity measures introduced to mitigate the country’s economic strain from sharply rising global oil prices and supply disruptions linked to the ongoing war in the Middle East.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif this week announced a series of austerity steps, including a four‑day work week for government offices, requiring 50 percent of staff to work from home, cutting fuel allowances for official vehicles by half, grounding up to 60 percent of the government fleet and closing all schools for two weeks to conserve fuel amid the global oil crisis.
The measures were unveiled in response to global oil market volatility triggered by the conflict involving the United States, Israel and Iran, which has disrupted supply routes such as the Strait of Hormuz and pushed crude prices sharply higher, straining Pakistan’s heavily import‑dependent energy sector.
“The meeting stressed the importance of strict and transparent adherence to the austerity measures, promoting fiscal responsibility and prudent use of public resources,” Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar said in a statement.
He was chairing a meeting of the Committee for Monitoring and Implementation of Conservation and Additional Austerity Measures, constituted under the directions of the PM, bringing together federal and provincial officials to review execution of the broad cost‑cutting plan.
Dar emphasized the government’s commitment to enforcing the PM’s austerity steps nationwide. The committee’s review also covered reductions in departmental expenditure, deductions from salaries of senior officials earning over Rs. 300,000 ($1,120), and coordination with provincial administrations to ensure uniform implementation of the plan.
Participants at the meeting reiterated that all ministries and divisions must continue strict monitoring and reporting, with transparent oversight mechanisms, as Pakistan navigates the economic pressures from the prolonged Middle East crisis and its fallout on global energy and trade markets.
