Largest ever allocation for uplift of tribal districts: CM.

PESHAWAR -- Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Mahmood Khan on Tuesday told students at an auditorium that his government had allocated Rs82 billion the largest ever allocation for the development of tribal districts.

'Successful integration of tribal districts with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa was a daunting challenge for the provincial government. Seventy years of inadequate laws and persistent security challenges for the past decades coupled with strong anti-merger elements had left the tribal districts without any sort of development infrastructure and facilities,' he said.

The interactive session with the students from universities and colleges held at Institute of Management Sciences (IM Sciences) Peshawar, turned out to be a lively event, often leading to laughter and applauds.

Radio and television talk show host Fasi Zaka was the moderator. His opening comments about his inability to find Mahmood Khan's smiling photograph online, evoked quite laughter. 'My Facebook ID has a smiling DP,' the chief minister retorted.

Mahmood Khan's interactive session with students turns into a lively event

Similarly, a question by one of the students about Peshawar's BRT completion timeframe, led to laughter from a packed auditorium. 'This is the most difficult question,' the chief minister remarked, before acknowledging it was a mistake to give the six-month completion time.

He, however, said that the Rs68 billion project would be completed by the end of the year and would prove to be a good service for the people of Peshawar. 'Peshawar belongs to all of us from Bannu to Swat,' he added.

The chief minister was accompanied by members of his cabinet, advisers and secretaries from various departments, who responded to questions from the participants on the performance and future planning of the government.

Mr Khan said that his government had stood up to the challenge and made the merger a success by extending the jurisdiction of provincial departments and conducting successful provincial assembly elections to due representation in the provincial government.

He said that huge allocation had been made for the uplift of schools, hospitals, generating livelihood opportunities and development of infrastructure and communication channels in the newly merged tribal districts.

Commenting on the provincial economy, the chief minister stated that 92 per cent of provincial receipts came from the federal government. 'We are taking pragmatic steps to increase the provincial...