MINGORA / PESHAWAR / LOWER DIR: At the heels of the ECP’s decision to hold a re-poll in PK-95 Lower Dir, women from the conservative Swat and Lower Dir districts took to the streets on Friday to demand their fundamental right to vote – setting a new precedent.
A majority of the protesters who gathered in Mingora hailed from Charbagh union council. Many of them said on the day of local government polls they had either been barred from entering polling stations or told to return to cast their votes later. “The Election Commission of Pakistan has termed elections in PK-95, Lower Dir-II null and void because women were not allowed to vote,” a protester said. “The same should have been done in parts of Swat.” Speaking to The Express Tribune, another protester said the administration is equally responsible for the loss of women’s suffrage as it must take tangible steps to provide equal rights to women in all spheres. “Polls can only be held in a peaceful manner if the army is deployed to supervise the electoral process,” she added. Similarly, in the neighbouring Lower Dir, a large number of women from Manjai union council attended a protest in Odigram, demanding re-elections for the local government. They complained that in a repeat of the PK-95 fiasco they were not allowed to vote as various political parties had turned them back from polling stations. New beginnings ECP has provided a much-needed solution to safeguard women’s voting rights in Lower Dir at least. It has declared PK-95’s election null and void and announced a schedule for re-polling. Fresh elections will take place on July 12. According to a notification issued by the election commission, the returning officer will issue a public notice regarding re-elections on June 8. Nomination papers can be submitted to ROs on June 15 and 16 and will be scrutinised on June 18 and 19. The notification added June 22 will be the last day for filing of appeals against the RO’s decision to reject and accept nomination papers. The final candidate list will be published on June 26. ECP has appointed Malakand Regional Election Commissioner Jamil Ahmed as district returning officer, while Lower Dir District Election Commissioner Muhammad Nasir Khan will serve as returning officer. Going the extra mile Although ECP’s decision has been lauded as an unprecedented move, rights activists believe the battle has yet to be won. A large number of activists across the province believe the election commission needs to go the extra mile to create a safe environment for women who want to cast their vote. Shad Begum, a social activist who hails from Dir, told The Express Tribune she was pleased by the ECP’s decision. “For many years, my NGO has been working towards empowering women,” she said. “It’s a difficult and arduous process. ECP cannot assume that setting a new date for re-polling in PK-95 will guarantee women will come out to vote. It will need to provide women with security and comfort.” Breaking barriers According to Shad Begum, many women are willing to vote but are discouraged from doing so due a variety of reasons “There is a double standard,” she said. “When a man’s registration number is not listed in a particular polling station, arrangements are made for him to vote elsewhere. Women who face similar issues are simply sent home.” Similarly, Akbar Khan, another rights activist, said ECP needs to make suitable arrangements for women. “Most combined polling station for men and women in Lower Dir have only one entrance,” he said. “I don’t think women will be willing to use the same entrance as men to access the polling booths.” Moreover, Khan added most returning officers in the district are men. “If there are no women polling staff, women will not feel comfortable enough to vote at polling booths,” he said. Published in The Express Tribune, June 6[SUP]th[/SUP], 2015.
PESHAWAR: Members of Jamaat-e-Islami Peshawar chapter have threatened to besiege Chief Minister House as they believe plans to rig the local government elections were hatched there.
According to a statement issued by the party following a meeting of its district leaders on Friday, JI has urged the district returning officer in the provincial capital take decisions on more than 10,000 poll-related complaints.
Moreover, the DRO has been asked to act impartially and not be influenced by any candidates who participated in the elections as he has already attracted controversy by failing to take any action so far. JI leaders stuck to their guns on rigging allegations and insisted a judicial commission should be set up to investigate the complaints. They added final results would be withheld until the matter was addressed. Party leaders said if the matter is not resolved, they will take to the streets against the chief minister on June 8. JI leaders assured the party will also issue further details on election malpractice.
The meeting was chaired by JI Peshawar Ameer Sabir Hussain Awan and was attended by Advocate Baharullah, Hafiz Hashmat Khan, Kashif Azam and local government candidates from Peshawar. Speaking at the meeting, Awan said Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf influenced the outcomes of the polls through the district administration and the police. He asked those candidates who believe they lost the polls due to widespread rigging to contact JI as it would raise a voice for them.
He said all political parties were also complaining of malpractice in the election. Published in The Express Tribune, June 6[SUP]th[/SUP], 2015.
MARDAN: The Schools Officers Association and All Education Employees Coordination on Wednesday demanded of the government to register FIRs against all those political activists, who tortured or harassed male and female teachers during the local body election duty.
The demand was made during an emergency meeting of both the teachers’ bodies here at the Government Centennial Model School.
The meeting was chaired by Principal Inayat Ali Shah and attended by representatives of teachers. The participants condemned violence and harassment against male and female teachers during the May 30 local government elections in the province.
They also declared the police’s action against teachers terrorism and an ‘open’ interference in the affairs of the state. The participants alleged that through a well-planned and organised conspiracy, teachers were disgraced and trashed by political leaders and workers during the local body elections in the province.
They said the security provided to them on the election day was nothing as the number of security personnel was so small that they were unable to control the mob. T
he participants, however, demanded that the PTI government take immediate action against those involved in violence against teachers.
SWABI: Political parties have been busy with intense manoeuvring for the formation Swabi and Chota Lahor tehsil governments since the holding of local body polls on May 30.
In Topi tehsil, where the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf has won most council seats in elections, many from the ruling party of the province are in the running for tehsil nazim.
Leaders of political parties on Friday said they were under tremendous pressure to hand over the list of winning candidates to the officials of district Election Commission without delay.
Sources said political parties had been wooing council members-elect, who belonged to them but contested elections as independent candidates, to join them.
They however said independent winners wanted perks and privileges before formally joining parties. Leaders of political parties said the declaration of official results of the local government elections on Sunday would accelerate the process to form district and tehsil governments as independent candidates would have three days to join political party of their choice.
In Swabi and Chota Lahor tehsils, none of the political parties have bagged enough seats to form own governments and there will certainly be a coalition government.
However, how political parties will bargain depends on the shrewdness of local political leaders. ANP district president Ameer Rehman said his party wanted to form government in Swabi tehsil and Razaar tehsils. “We face no problem in forming government,” he said.
He said Chota Lahor tehsil had been left to Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl, while PTI had won majority in tehsil Topi.
“It is not an easy task to form a coalition government in Swabi tehsil but we have planned to do so and I hope it will work,” he said.
He said ANP need to woo various parties as it had two seats, while PTI and JI had three seats, PML-N two and PPP, QWP, AJIP and JUI-F one each.
JUI-F district chief Attaul Haq Darvaish said his party had support of ANP, PML-N and two independent candidates.
“If you include the candidates returning on reserved seats, we could easily form the tehsil Chota Lahor government,” he said.
When contacted, PML-N district president Iftikhar Ahmad Khan said his party had not yet made an alliance with any party but would forge alliance very soon with a political party, who could form the government and meet its demands. Published in Dawn, June 6th, 2015 http://www.dawn.com/news/1186485/intense-post-election-manoeuvring-underway
CHITRAL: The alliance of religious parties comprising JI and JUI-F announced on Friday the nomination of Maghfirat Shah of JI as their joint candidate for the coveted slot of district nazim.
The alliance has a clear majority of 25 seats in a house of 38 in Chitral, with JI having 13 seats and JUI-F 12, respectively. These 25 seats also include reserved seats for women, peasants, youth and minority.
The announcement was made jointly by Maghfirat Shah and JUI-F’s Qari Abdur Rahman Qureshi, while addressing a press conference here. They said that the offices of district nazim and naib tehsil nazim would go to JI while that of nazims of the two tehsils -- Mastuj and Chitral -- including naib zilla nazim, would be of JUI-F.
The announcement was followed by a procession of hundreds of workers of both the religious parties. They said that the people of Chitral had reposed an unprecedented trust in the religious parties due to which they were in a position to win the slots of district nazim and that of the two tehsils with a fair majority.
They reiterated that the alliance would remain intact in the next general elections. The JI and JUI leaders expressed the hope that the district government and the tehsil municipal administrations would set an example of good governance.
Published in Dawn, June 6th, 2015 http://www.dawn.com/news/1186490/ji-man-nominated-for-chitral-nazim
PESHAWAR: The public representatives elected in the local government elections are likely to help address the chronic problems related to eradication of polio in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
The province, which leads nationwide polio count of 24 with 10 cases, is unable to cover inaccessible children and tackle refusal by parents against the anti-polio vaccine due to lack of a mechanism to fully utilise the union council polio eradication committees.
The committees, formed in 2012, don’t fulfil the criteria set forth under the National Emergency Action Plan (NEAP) for polio.
The committees, supposed to implement NEAP, didn’t work to a desired level mainly owing to absence of such people in the teams, who could lead the polio eradication campaign and held accountable for any laxity. They also found it hard to enlist community’s support for vaccination and reduce refusal by parents against OPV. The NAEP’s recommendation regarding formation of better teams also remained unmet by the committees. The local government elections placed the government in a better position to utilise over 41,762 representatives for polio eradication.
The province could implement vaccination programme at the village and union council level through councillors effectively. The UN and donor agencies have often been complaining of non-availability of women vaccinators due to which children are missed.
The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Local Government Act 2013 provides for two women councillors on reserved seats of village/neighbourhood councils where the female representation was over 30 per cent at tehsil and district level, who could mobilise community as well as find women vaccinators in their respective areas.
The health department has been vaccinating more than five million children in each drive but about unvaccinated 20,000 children put at risk the vaccinated ones. The children missed by vaccinators during the campaign were more than 100,000 but they pose a Local govt representatives likely to help in polio eradication permanent threat to polio eradication efforts.
The provincial government, which has recently been appreciated for its efforts by the Independent Monitoring Board-and global advisory body for polio due to improvement in vaccination, has got a big force, which can be held accountable. According to experts, one of the main factors of the province’s failure to do away with polio virus is also its inability to find responsible people for vaccination as it utlises the services of volunteers, who can’t be held accountable.
In presence of elected public representatives, the element of accountability in anti-polio drive will prove a success. The government is likely to formalise the role of people elected in local government polls because their role in addressing the issues like refusal and covering missed children is crucial. The elected people from the same village can easily reach the defiant parents and woo them conveniently and if not, they can be reported to administration and higher authorities.
The programme needs local vaccinators whom the people can trust. The local representatives can hire widows as vaccinators on payment. This will work both ways. Many households don’t bring their sleeping children for vaccination to male workers outside while women can go inside and administer the vaccine to the children. Vaccination in the province has also suffered due to attacks on vaccinators and the government finds it difficult to hire vaccinators because of security reasons. The elected councillors can ensure security as well as promote vaccination also as part of their duty to provide basic facilities, like health, to people. Their involvement also holds key to social acceptability of the polio programme.
PESHAWAR: The Centre for Governance and Public Accountability (CGPA), a nongovernmental organisation, on Friday urged the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government to expedite utilisation of funds for Annual Development Programme as it could only utilise 45 per cent with 25 days left to the end of the financial year.
According to a statement issued by CGPA here, of the total allocation of Rs139.80 billion under Khyber Pakhtunkhwa ADP for 2014-15, Rs124.1 billion has already been released.
Only Rs62.9 billion, which is 45 per cent of the ADP budget, has been utilised so far, said the statement quoting figures of the provincial finance department. During a pre-budget media briefing on Thursday, finance secretary Said Badshah Bukhari had claimed 90 per cent of the provincial ADP would be utilised by the end of the current financial year.
The CGPA urged the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government to expedite the utilisation of development funds to improve social indicators in the province and avoid transfer of one year’s budgetary allocations for public service delivery to the next. Of the total of Rs19.9 billion development budget for elementary and secondary education, only Rs9.3 billion was used until June 5, the statement said. NGO says better ADP spending to improve local social indicators
Despite the fact that almost 2.5 million children are out of schools in the province, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government’s inability to spend development budgets efficiently and effectively is adding to the gravity of educational challenges. Allocation for roads was Rs17.3 billion in 2014-15 ADP. The utilisation under the roads until June 5, 2015 was Rs7.4 billion, which is 43 per cent of total development budget for roads. The regional development, which covers some discretionary funds, was given Rs16.4 billion. The actual utilisation under regional development has been only Rs6.7 billion, which is 41 percent of the total development budget. Similarly, Rs11.21 billion was given to health sector in 2014-15 ADP but only Rs3.7 billion, 34 percent of the total budget, was utilised until June 5, 2015. The CGPA demanded that more funds be allocated for provision of medical equipment and medicine to hospitals to improve the performance of health sector in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Similarly development budget utilisation in the other sectors remained as agriculture 70 percent, Auqaf and religious affairs 43 percent, drinking water and sanitation 45 percent, energy and power 47 percent, environment 13 percent, finance 41 percent, food 17 percent, forestry 55 percent, higher education 59 percent, home 30 percent, housing 28 percent, industries 27 percent, information 59 percent, labour two percent, law and justice 47 percent, mines and minerals six percent, population welfare 36 percent, pro-poor special initiatives 27 percent, research and development 43 percent, social welfare 51 percent, sports, tourism and archeology 43 percent, science and technology and Information Technology 27 percent, transport 10 percent, urban development 55 percent, water 73 percent, utilisation under district ADP 63 percent and 24 percent under relief and rehabilitation. CGPA programme manager Malik Masood demanded that Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government ensure efficient and accountable mechanisms for improving ADP spending. He said the provincial government had performed well in expediting the development process in fourth quarter but still, 55 percent funds had yet to be utilised with only 25 days left to the end of financial year 2014-15. Masood urged the provincial government to start timely planning for utilisation of next year ADP. Published in Dawn, June 6th, 2015 http://www.dawn.com/news/1186494/kp-utilised-less-than-half-of-uplift-funds-this-fiscal
MINGORA: “What if I am crippled with both legs, I am active enough to fight for the rights of people of my area better than anyone else. People will see how actively and boldly I will snatch the basic facilities needed in the area from the government,” said Sher Ali, a 22-year-old winner of the youth council seat in the recent local government elections from Malookabad area of Mingora. Using a wheelchair to move in the society, Mr Ali’s confidence level is so high that he sees everything with optimism in the society. “For over 20,000 population of Malookabad we have only one primary school which is far from here due to which half of the children do not go to school,” he told this correspondent, adding that getting approval for school is his top priority. Mr Ali has been involved in social activities in his area and claims to have resolved several issues. There is scarcity of water in his area where people depend on government supply scheme. However, water supply remains suspended and the people have to go two to three kilometers downtown and fetch water. “I have never taken my disability as weakness, but always tried to serve the community and would regularly go to the tehsil municipality to solve the water scarcity issue. I would also regularly call to Wapda office, the elected representatives and officials for solving issues,” he said, adding that he had also solved the cleanliness issue by approving a cleaner from TMA. Mr Ali’s house is located up in the hill and accessible after climbing 130 steep steps. His friends help him by carrying him and his wheelchair to his house. He said that his victory in the polls has encouraged him to serve people. “I will not behave like the politicians as they disappear once they win elections.” He gave the credit for his success in the polls to the youth of his area. “As people of the area have elected me, I will work day and night for them,” he said with confidence. Mr Ali said that if he delivered according to the expectations of the people this time, he would try to contest elections for tehsil council and then district council in future. He advised the disabled people in the country to stand for their rights and work in the community like normal people. Published in Dawn, June 6th, 2015 http://www.dawn.com/news/1186477/disabled-youth-councillor-plans-to-serve-people
MANSEHRA: The Sungi Development Foundation with the financial assistance of Pakistan Poverty Alleviation Fund (PPAF) has established two digital hubs in remote union council of Balakot to impart online education to the local people and provide other services to them. “Now youth, sitting in such remote area, can apply online for jobs not only in the county but also abroad. It would also facilitate women to showcase their handicrafts nationally and internationally,” said Shazia Mehmood, the director programmes of SDF, while speaking at the inaugural meeting of the digital hub in Ghanool the other day. Besides others, SDF programme manager Shabana Bibi, Umer Raza and newly elected district and tehisl councillors also spoke on the occasion. Ms Mehmood said that two digital hubs were established in Karnool and Ghanool and three more would soon be inaugurated in remoter union councils of Balakot. She said that the digital hubs were established under livelihood programme to enhance the income resources of the communities in far off union councils of Balakot. Under the programme, animals and grants were provided to needy people in the first phase to establish small business, she said, adding that the digital hubs were set up in the third phase of the programme. “The community now can lodge their complaints regarding civic services, health and education issues in their respective union councils and tehisl,” said Ms Mehmood. Speaking on the occasion, Shabana Bibi said that the programme would bring a revolution in lives of ordinary people. It was happening for the first time in the district and most probably in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, she added. “These hubs could also be used as a tool to address the poverty issues through imparting compute education to youth without any distinction of gender,” she said. Ms Bibi said that senior citizens could also learn Quran and Islamic teachings through those digital hubs. Mohammad Farooq, a community member, who talked on the behalf of youth, said that local youth would be benefited from those digital hubs. It was a dream for the people of such remote areas, he added. Published in Dawn, June 6th, 2015 http://www.dawn.com/news/1186480/online-education-offered-to-balakot-people
MARDAN: Provincial Minister for Elementary and Secondary Education Mohammad Atif Khan has claimed that the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf is in a position to form governments in the district council and three tehsil councils of Mardan. The minister expressed these views while addressing a press conference here on Friday. MNA Mujahid Khan, MPA Zahid Khan Durani, PTI’s district councillors-elect and party activists were also in attendance. On the occasion, independent district member of Gumbat union council Ishfaq Khan, tehsil member of Hoti union council Mehmand Khan, tehsil member of Baghdada union council Ishfaq Lodhi besides ex-union council nazim Hamayun Khilgi and Kakay Khan announced to join PTI. Minister Atif Khan said that the success of PTI candidates in the local government elections reflected on the ‘true leadership’ of Imran Khan and ‘people-friendly’ policies by the provincial government. He claimed that people had once again expressed their confidence in the PTI and rejected the Awami National Party. “We are in contact with other political parties to form governments in the district and its three tehsils -- Mardan, Takhtbai and Katlang,” he said, adding that other political parties would get their share in the district and tehsil governments as per the strength of their candidates. He further said that Jamaat-i-Islami emir Sarajul Haq and Chief Minister Pervez Khattak had held several rounds of talks in this connection. However, Atif Khan said that there was no last word in politics, and that they even were in contact with opposition parties regarding formation of district and tehsil governments. “We will prefer to sit on opposition benches wherever we lack majority to give tough time to the winning parties,” he said. Meanwhile, losing Candidates of Bijligar union council on Friday demanded of the authorities concerned to order re-polling in the area as they claimed that they were given results by relevant returning officers of six polling stations where not even a single vote was cast owing to non-availability of polling staff. Talking to mediapersons Arshad Khan of ANP alleged that on the election day he caught a person casting fake votes and handed him over to police officials, but no action was taken against him. He said that another person was also held red handed while casting votes for PTI candidates and was handed over to police, but no action was taken against him as well. Published in Dawn, June 6th, 2015
PESHAWAR: The political parties and losing candidates of various wards continued to raise voice against rigging in the May 30 local government elections and warned on Friday to come to the streets if the Election Commission of Pakistan failed to announce re-election. Speaking at separate press conferences here, the losing candidates said that both the ECP and provincial government had failed to fulfil their duties and as a result several people lost their lives and many winning candidates were defeated through a conspiracy. Awami National Party Peshawar vice-president Amanullah Khan said that his party had already demanded dissolution of the provincial assembly so that fair elections could be held under a neutral interim setup. He said that in five union councils of Mattani, Adezai and other rural areas the elections were rigged, adding that the people, including women, were deprived of their vote right in violation of law. The ANP activist also alleged that the special police officers and Mattani SHO kept the voters away from the polling stations, who returned without casting votes. “We will besiege the KP Assembly if justice is not provided to us,” he warned. Pakistan Rah-i-Haq Party president Mohammad Ibrahim Qasmi also expressed his reservations about the election process and said that the ECP and the provincial government had failed to take necessary steps for ensuing holding of transparent elections. He said that despite his repeated requests the officials concerned did not send additional police to stop rigging. Allege rigging, ask ECP to hold fresh polls
He alleged that the election staff was hand in glove with the candidates of ruling parties. He asked Chief Minister Pervez Khattak to resign over this issue otherwise his party would start protest demonstrations. Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz candidates for district council and town council Noor Mohammad and Ibrar Ahmed of Maryamzai (UC-55), Peshawar, also demanded re-election under the supervision of army and judiciary. They warned to block the roads outside the assembly building if the demand was not met. Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf activist Shehzad Mastkhel, whose party’s local unit preferred a PPP candidate to him on the youth councillor seat from UC-32 Peshawar, alleged that PTI’s opponents polled a record number of fake votes with no check from the official concerned and his supporters in women polling stations were not allowed to cast votes. PML-N candidate Suhail Khattak for district council and Rafiqullah for town council Akora Khattak accused ANP candidate Niaz Ali and his supporter Zulfiqar Bacha of polling fake votes in the presence of election staff. “They beat up our workers and forced them to leave the polling station,” they alleged. They said if re-election on the seats was not held they would block the GT Road in protest. Independent candidate for district council Hazir Badshah and Qismat Khan for town council of Kachi Kamar, Lakki Marwat, accused both PPP and PTI of rigging the polls due to lack of security. They also demanded re-election in their area. Tripartite alliance candidates, Abdur Rahim of PPP for district and Umer Wahid of ANP for town council (UC-7 Peshawar) levelled allegations of rigging against local leaders of Jamaat-i-Islami local leaders and sought re-election on the two seats. Many other losing candidates also addressed press conferences in Peshawar and demanded fresh polls. Published in Dawn, June 6th, 2015 http://www.dawn.com/news/1186486/election-losers-threaten-to-besiege-kp-assembly
PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government expects around Rs22 billion shortfall in the current budget’s revenue receipts as so far during the ongoing fiscal, it has received Rs18 billion less from the centre on account of its share in federal divisible pool along with Rs4 billion shortfall in its own receipts, provincial finance secretary Said Badshah Bukhari said on Thursday. During a briefing here, the secretary said the federal government had set the revenue collection target for the fiscal year 2014-15 at Rs2,810 billion but it had to revise the target to Rs2,605 billion due to several factors, including slump in international oil prices. He said as the province received its share from the federal divisible pool at the rate of 9.01 per cent but because of the shortfall on federal level, it received Rs18 billion short of the estimated amount for the current fiscal year, which would end on June 30. Bukhari said Rs4 billion shortfall was expected in the province’s own receipts. Finance secretary says province received Rs18bn less from due share in federal divisible pool
He said the federal government had transferred Rs22 billion against Rs29 billion to the province on account of oil and gas royalty so far during the current fiscal. When asked about the inclusion of any mega project for the provincial capital in the next budget, the secretary said the planning and development department was working on a multibillion rapid bus project. About utilisation of the current ADP, he claimed that over 90 per cent of the ADP would be spent by end of June. Bukhari said changes in procedure including hiring of consultants caused delay in the utilisation of ADP previous year. The finance department arranged pre-budget consultative meeting and invited different stakeholders including business community and office bearers of various government employee associations to seek their input before the upcoming provincial budget which is likely to be presented on June 13. Finance minister Muzaffar Said chaired the meeting, which was also attended by lawmakers from opposition parties. Earlier, the finance minister said the government was going to unveil around Rs472 billion budget for financial year 2015-16. He said volume of the budget had not been finalised and it was being reviewed. Muzaffar said estimates for the next annual development programme would be around Rs124 billion in addition to around Rs28 billion foreign components. He said the size of foreign-funded components in the current ADP was Rs35 billion. The minister said during next fiscal, the government would create 10,000 vacancies in education department and that all-out efforts would be made to resolve all problems of schools and colleges. He said the provincial government was fully focusing on health sector and that its budget during the next financial year would be 19 percent higher than that of the outgoing year. The minister said the police’s budget would go up 14 percent, law and justice department’s 13 percent, higher education department’s 13 percent, social welfare department’s 51 percent and local government’s 90 percent. He said during the next financial year, the government would make efforts for the creation of 2,000 jobs in health sector department and that overall, more than 159,000 employment opportunities would be created for youths in different sectors. Muzaffar said due to hectic efforts and regular review process, utilisation of development funds in the outgoing year would remain around 90 percent. “The hiring of consultants to ensure quality of works took time during the last financial year but by the end of the current fiscal, the ratio of fund utilisation will reach 90 percent,” he said. The minister said the provincial government had a long and united stand on the issue of net hydel profit and that the chief minister himself led efforts for securing profit. He said the provincial and federal governments had agreed on matters relating to the resolution of the matter. “In a recent meeting, both parties agreed to make a formal announcement within a week in this regard,” he said. Muzaffar said no new tax would be imposed in the next budget of the province. Published in Dawn, June 5th, 2015
ESHAWAR: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Board of Investment and Trade vice chairman Senator Mohsin Aziz on Thursday said the provincial government was committed to launching the bus rapid transit project in Peshawar to overcome the growing traffic issues but the project faced delay due to red tape at the railways ministry. In a statement issued here, Aziz appreciated the Punjab government’s offer to help for the launch of a bus service at Karachi and said the centre’s support for the project would not only help build confidence of smaller provinces but it would also improve working relationship among all federating units of the country. He, however, asked if the Punjab chief minister would extend the same goodwill gesture towards Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The BoIT vice chairman said the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government was in contact with the railways ministry for provision of extra land for Peshawar BRT project. He said the bus project was meant to overcome traffic congestion in the provincial capital by providing the people with comfortable, economical, and fast and free-flowing transport service. Aziz said unnecessary delay in issuance of no-objection certificate by the railways ministry was a major hurdle to the project’s execution. The BoIT vice chairman said the Peshawar bus service, an idea of the provincial government, would run between Nasirpur and Hayatabad industrial estate around 26km long road alongside the railway line. He said the road should be built parallel to the railway track and thus, leaving ample space for expansion if it was required. Aziz said the BRT project was intended to be undertaken on fast track basis after overcoming the initial hiccup of the availability of land. He said he was hopeful that the federal and Punjab governments would intervene in best interest of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa people and ensure the early execution of the project. Published in Dawn, June 5th, 2015
PESHAWAR: The meeting of Provincial Development Working Party (PDWP), chaired by additional chief secretary Dr Hammad Owais Agha, on Thursday approved 16 projects worth Rs7.35 billion. The meeting was attended by respective administrative secretaries and officials of the relevant departments. It considered 18 projects of energy and power, higher education, sports, environment, local government, public health engineering and communications sectors. The meeting approved a number of projects, including establishment of Khushal Khan Khattak University Karak and Government Girls Degree College at Shabqadar, Charsadda; construction of sports complex at sub-tehsil Rustam in Mardan; development and management of national parks in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa; establishment of emergency rescue services (Rescue 1122) in Nowshera, Katlang and Rustam; and enhancement of rescue services (Rescue 1122) in Peshawar and Mardan. Other schemes include clearance of cheques issued to government contractors; providing solar system for water supply schemes and emergent nature works in Governor’s House, Peshawar and Nathiagali; feasibility and design survey of building for Gagra tehsil, Buner; widening and rehabilitation of road from Bannu-Kohat Road to Indus Highway via Dhoda Golf Club, Kohat; rehabilitation of road from Gulshanabad Chowk - Jarma Bridge via Hangu Pattak, Kohat; and construction of Swat Motorway (land acquisition). Published in Dawn, June 5th, 2015 http://www.dawn.com/news/1186307/pdwp-approves-rs73bn-projects
PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government has formally approved construction of two-level flyover at Phase-III square of Hayatabad-Jamrud Road that is named as Bab-i-Peshawar (gateway of Peshawar). The local government department has awarded the contract of this mega project to the National Logistic Cell. An agreement to this effect has also been signed between the Peshawar Development Authority and NLC wherein the latter will construct this flyover in three months. Local Government and Rural Development, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, secretary Jamil Ahmad in a meeting at the LG Secretariat here on Thursday directed the NLC for early completion of this project, says an official statement. He said that this modern flyover at the confluence of Hayatabad, Karkhano Market, industrial estate and Regi Lalma Township would greatly contribute to easing traffic on this busy road and would also help in accelerating industrial and economic activities in the region. He said that this flyover would emerge as the training and testing laboratory for the students of engineering in respect of ensuring smooth passage of traffic in Peshawar and saving precious time of commuters. Mr Ahmad termed it a good omen that the KP government was in the process of devolving powers and resources to the local governments. Published in Dawn, June 5th, 2015 http://www.dawn.com/news/1186302/bab-i-peshawar-flyover-approved
PESHAWAR: Rejecting a review petition of the National Accountability Bureau, the Peshawar High Court on Thursday upheld its earlier order about the non-summoning of one retired and five serving police officers by an accountability court for indictment in a high-profile case of embezzlement of funds in weapons procurement for their department. A bench comprising Chief Justice Mazhar Alam Miankhel and Justice Mohammad Daud Khan dismissed the petition after hearing the arguments of NAB deputy prosecutor general Mohammad Jamil Khan. The petitioner had requested the court to review its March 26 order to dismiss a NAB petition against the non-summoning of the said six police officers by the accountability court in the case on the ground that while other suspects were arrested, the said officer had not been arrested by the NAB and only their names were mentioned in the reference filed before the accountability court. The bench observed that the petitioner had not produced anything concrete on the basis of which the court should review its earlier order. NAB had filed review petition against the court order in arms case
The police officials, whose names were mentioned by NAB in the reference filed in the accountability court but were not summoned to face trial, include former Frontier Constabulary commandant Abdul Majeed Marwat, former Khyber Pakhtunkhwa additional IGP (operations) Abdul Latif Gandapur, DIG at Central Police Office Sajid Ali Khan, former DIG Headquarters Peshawar Mohammad Suleman, former AIG (Establishment) at CPO Kashif Alam and former DIG (telecommunications) Sadiq Kamal Orakzai. In March 2014, the accountability court had declined to summon the six police officers citing the NAB failure to explain their offence as a major reason. The court had observed that the position of the suspects had yet to be spelled out and construed by the NAB under the law and in line with the relevant provisions of the Code of Criminal Procedure. Subsequently, the accountability court had dismissed on Nov 24 an application of the NAB and had stuck to its earlier decision of not summoning the six officials. The court had observed that so far the NAB hadn’t produced convincing reasons for the non-arrest of the said six suspects and that whenever any convincing reason was given, the court would summon them accordingly to face the charge at any stage. Upset by those orders of the accountability court the NAB filed the earlier writ petition saying the trial court had erred by not summoning the six officers to stand trial as they were members of the purchase committee, which had awarded lucrative contracts to a private contractor Arhsid Majeed who later on turned approver. Deputy prosecutor general Mohammad Jamil Khan said once the NAB had cited the said six suspects as accused in the case, the court had no powers to decline their summoning to stand trial. He said the trial court could only either acquit or convict a suspect. The NAB claimed the evidence collected by it had confirmed the loss of Rs2.03 billion to the kitty in the case. Published in Dawn, June 5th, 2015 http://www.dawn.com/news/1186300/phc-sticks-to-its-decision-not-to-summon-police-officers
KOHAT: Responding to allegations of violation of code of conduct by the police during the local government polls, district police officer Mohammad Sohaib Ashraf has asked the local political leaders to furnish any evidence against any official so that action could be taken against them. He said this during a meeting with the district presidents of the political parties. The meeting held in the office of DPO Kohat was attended by Javed Khattak of ANP, Sher Khan of PML-N, Maulana Abdul Hayee of JUI-F, Pir Faheem of JI, Humayun Chacha of PTI, Mohammad Iqbal of PPP, Abdul Rauf of PkMAP and Mehmoodul Islam of QWP. The participants thanked the DPO for inquiring about the complaints regarding any instance of violation of code of conduct by the district police. Speaking on the occasion, the DPO said that the meeting had been convened on the directions of the central police office, Peshawar. AXED TO DEATH: One woman was axed to death and another injured in separate cases here on Thursday. The police said that one Hussain Ullah killed Kameen Bibi by repeated strikes of axe when she was asleep in her house in Mangal Bibi area on Kohat-Rawalpindi road. Shermat Khan, the father-in-law of the deceased, told the Saddar police that they had old differences over marrying of women which led to the incident. The police registered an FIR against the alleged killer, a resident of Spin Thall area, and have started hunt for his arrest. In another incident, oneJehangir allegedly opened firing at his sister-in-law following a brawl among children in the house. Police said that Farasat Bibi was seriously injured due to firing and admitted to the KDA hospital. In this case too, the alleged attacker escaped from the scene. Meanwhile, The police rounded up 70 suspects, including three Afghan nationals, in a crackdown at Ghamkol camp area here on Thursday. Afghan nationals, including Yousuf Khan, Shah Mehmood and Ghazni Gul, were arrested for not having residential cards. They were booked under 14 Foreign Act and sent to prison for deportation. The suspects were taken to Junglekhel police station where separate FIRs were registered against them. Published in Dawn, June 5th, 2015 http://www.dawn.com/news/1186296/parties-asked-to-file-complaints-against-police
PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court on Thursday dismissed two identical petitions of around 80 civil judges seeking participation in the examination for vacant posts of additional district and sessions judges to be filled by practicing lawyers. A bench comprising Justice Irshad Qaisar and Justice Mohammad Daud Khan pronounced a short order of the dismissal of petitions filed by civil judges Abid Zaman, Asmatullah Wazir and several others after completion of arguments by counsel for the petitioners and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Bar Council. The petitioners had challenged the relevant rules of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Judicial Services Rules 2001 through which quota was specified for the serving senior civil judges and lawyers for the seats of additional district and sessions judges (ADSJs). The counsel for petitioners said Rule 5(C) of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Judicial Services Rules 2001 provided for direct recruitment for the posts of ADSJs. They said according to the said rule, not less than two-thirds of the ADSJ posts should be filled through promotion, on recommendation of departmental promotion committee and from among the holders of posts of senior civil judges-cum-judicial magistrates. Civil judges had challenged their and lawyers’ quota for sessions judge vacancies
The counsel said the said rule provided that not more than one-third of the ADSJ seats should be filled through direct recruitment from among bar members, public prosecutors, government pleaders and additional public prosecutors. They said few months ago, the PHC registrar advertised 25 posts of ADSJs to seek applications for them. The counsel said the criteria provided for applicants were that they should be practicing lawyers with at least eight years experience in profession. They pointed out that recently, the Lahore, Islamabad and Sindh high courts advertised ADSJ posts but didn’t stop judicial officers from applying for them. The counsel said Rule 5 of the Services Rules was a violation of Article 27 of the Constitution as it discriminated against petitioners. They said the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Judicial Services Rules 2001 were inconsistent with such rules in other provinces. Ijaz Khan Sabi, lawyer for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Bar Council, said two-thirds of the seats were filled through judicial officers and only one-third through lawyers and that it would be an injustice with the latter if judicial officers, too, were allowed to compete for the quota specified of lawyers. He pointed out that there were 5,052 lawyers in the province, who were eligible to apply for the 25 vacant posts, whereas there were only 180 judicial officers for 50 posts of ADSJs. The lawyer said if petitioners were so fond of participating in the examinations, they should resign from their posts to sit them. Sabi said it was the job of the legislature to make amendments to the relevant law and rules to keep the posts in question open for all categories. He said on same analogy, if judicial officers wanted to do away with the one-third quota of lawyers, then two-thirds reserved for promotion of judicial officers should also be filled through open merit. Published in Dawn, June 5th, 2015 http://www.dawn.com/news/1186297/phc-rejects-pleas-against-judicial-services-rules
HARIPUR: The deputy commissioner of Haripur has suspended 281 government employees, who had failed to perform their duty during the local government elections on May 30 in various union councils of the district.
According to details, the government employees from scale 5 to scale 17, belonging to education, health, forest and other departments, who had willfully or otherwise refrained from the elections duty, had been suspended for disobeying the administrative orders.
Asad, a superintendent at the deputy commissioner office, told Dawn that irrespective of their grades, the employees, who didn’t perform the duty, would face disciplinary action.
Malik Hafeez, president of Primary Teachers Association, district Haripur has denied that any teaching staff had refused to perform the duty. He said that being lawful voters, hundreds of men and women teachers had been denied the voting right, which was unconstitutional and unlawful.
“They could not poll their votes. Either they were deputed outside their union council, where their voters were registered, or they were short of time to cast the vote,” he said.
The women teachers, he said, had undergone the worst kind of ordeal as they had to travel miles outside their union councils. They had to perform their duty for two days and two nights in far flung areas, where no security was available for them, he added.
Similarly, Mr Hafeez said, male staff had to stay nights in primary schools or other government facilities without any proper arrangements. He said that women teachers belonging to Ghazi were sent to Nara Amazai and the residents of Haripur were deputed in Ghazi.
He claimed that most of the teachers, who had been suspended, had performed the duty. Their returning officers had placed their name twice in the duty lists, he added.
Mr Hafeez said that bureaucracy had made a mockery of teaching profession by suspending teachers, who were burdened with extra-duty at the polling stations. The employees of other departments, who performed the duty with the teachers, were ignorant about the voting process, he said.
Mr Hafeez complained about the non-cooperative attitude of the police, who according to him, remained aloof from all kinds of pressures being faced by the teaching staff.
He said that it was contrary to the ground realities to blame teachers for the mismanagement of the district administration on the elections day. He said that even women teachers performing duty in desolate and hilly areas had not been provided with transport.
MINGORA: After vote counting was completed, a two-horse race began between Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz for the coveted district nazim slot in Swat. Both parties bagged 22 seats each on the district level out of the total 67. Now all eyes are on the 10 independent candidates whom both parties will be trying to woo in order for either one or the other to establish a government in the district. According to the latest results, 22 district councillors were elected each from PTI and PML-N, whereas independents were the third highest with 10 berths. The Awami National Party secured eight seats, whereas Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl took two seats. Jamaat-e-Islami and Pakistan Peoples Party also grabbed one seat each. At the tehsil level, PTI secured 24 seats followed by ANP with 12, PML-N with 10, and JI with seven. JUI-F bagged six berths, while PPP, Qaumi Watan Party and Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami have one seat each. Five candidates from all six tehsils of Swat were elected independently. At this stage, PTI leaders are claiming they have the strength to establish a government at the district level, while PML-N is making a similar assertion. The latter, through the PM’s Adviser Amir Muqam, claims to have 37 district council members on its side. The Nawaz Sharif-led political party has already made alliances with other political parties in the district such as the Jamaat-e-Islami. The JI is also PTI’s partner in the K-P government.
In the running
Regardless, the top office of district nazim will definitely go to either a member of PTI or PML-N. The prospects for PML-N are Attaullah Khan and Muhammad Ali Shah, while Ali Khan, Ahmad Khan, Habibullah Khan and Rafiqueur Rahman will be in the running for PTI. All four PTI aspirants are close relatives of prominent government and parliamentary office occupants. PML-N has offered the district naib nazim office to ANP and either Iftikhar Ahmad from Shah Dheri or Abdul Jabbar Durushkela will be the joint candidate for these parties.
Not only has Amir Muqam focused all his energies on top offices, but PTI ministers, advisers and parliamentary secretaries from Swat are also involved in hectic efforts to make the most of the situation.
PESHAWAR: The tripartite alliance of the Awami National Party (ANP), Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) and the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) is holding a strike across Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) against the alleged rigging and mismanagement in local bodies elections.
PESHAWAR: The two parties may be coalition partners in the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Assembly, but this did not stop Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s elected district and town council members from flaying Jamaat-e-Islami’s man for “mismanaging” local government elections. They held Minister for Local Government Inayatullah Khan and his department responsible for what happened on election day.
Make a break for it
Addressing a news conference at Peshawar Press Club on Tuesday, PTI’s local government representatives called for Inayatullah’s resignation and urged their party to end the coalition with JI. The PTI representatives asked for the formation of an independent commission to investigate mismanagement. Town councillor Kamran Bangash said JI levelled serious allegations against others despite the fact that its own man was running the LG ministry. He claimed the religious party had been accusing the PTI of mismanagement because its coalition partner was out in the cold. Bangash also appealed to JI Ameer Sirajul Haq to resign from the Senate as he won the seat with PTI’s assistance. “Let Haq contest again and he will see how a young PTI candidate will win,” Bangash said, boasting about his party’s popularity. “It was not a tripartite, but a six-partite alliance against PTI and the results will be the same even if there is a re-election.” This is not the first time PTI and JI traded blows over supposed mismanagement during LG elections. K-P JI chief Professor Mohammad Ibrahim Khan had earlier said the PTI government used the administration and police to rig the polls. He added the Election Commission of Pakistan’s (ECP) performance was also not up to par as it failed to train polling staff and presiding officers.
ANP-W demands re-polling
Awami National Party-Wali Chief Begum Naseem Wali Khan has asked for LG re-elections in the province. She also refused to attend the all parties conference (APC) organised by the provincial government on Tuesday. “I will not accuse one party of rigging; it was more of a collective effort,” Wali told the media at the press club. ANP-W members said the government should not waste time and simply announce re-elections. Published in The Express Tribune, June 10[SUP]th[/SUP], 2015.
DERA ISMAIL KHAN: The counterterrorism department of police foiled a sabotage attempt by seizing ammunition and explosives and arresting two suspected terrorists during a raid here on Saturday. Officials said that the CTD personnel during routine checking intercepted two motorcyclists on Kulachi road and on search recovered from their possession four rockets, two mortar shells, two magnet bombs and other material used in the making of improvised explosive devices, and arrested them. The arrested men were identified as Bilal Afridi and Shahzad Afridi, residents of Bara, Khyber Agency. A case was registered against them under the explosives act. Meanwhile, a rickshaw driver was electrocuted after a high voltage line fell on the tri-wheeler in Chogala area of Dera city. Eyewitnesses said the rickshaw was passing the road when the power line suddenly broke and fell on the vehicle. As a result, the driver suffered critical burn injuries and died on the spot. He was identified as Sahib Jan. The police registered the case and started investigation. Published in Dawn, June 7th, 2015 http://www.dawn.com/news/1186731/two-terrorists-caught-with-explosives-in-dera
PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government has approved the corporate structure of the Provincial Energy Development Organisation (PEDO) to make it an autonomous commercial entity and to expedite the process of energy generation in the province. The corporate structure envisages formation of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Power Company Limited and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Private Power Board within one month. The approval was accorded at a high level meeting of the Energy Apex Committee of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa chaired by Chief Minister Pervez Khattak here on Saturday, according to a statement. The meeting was also attended by the Provincial Minister for Energy and Education Mohammad Atif Khan, Finance Minister Muzaffar Said, Senator Mohsin Aziz, MNA Asad Umer, Chief Secretary Amjad Ali Khan, Additional Chief Secretary Dr Hamad Awais Agha, Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister Dr Shahzad Bangash, secretaries of energy, finance and planning & development departments. It was decided that in order to ensure rapid execution of energy generation projects and avoid bureaucratic hurdles in energy related projects, an autonomous entity would be formed under the energy and power department of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The proposed independent company will exploit the potential of 30,000 megawatt of hydro power generation in the province besides facilitating and developing the oil and gas sectors for enhancing their production according to the targets fixed up to the year 2034. The meeting expressed satisfaction over oil and gas exploration and production activities of the provincial government and recommended for consideration by the federal government the oil companies approaching the provincial government for setting up oil refineries in southern districts of the province. Mr Khattak assured to facilitate the oil companies for establishing refineries in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and directed the energy department to focus on other parts of the province where clear signs of availability of oil and gas reserves had surfaced. He said that the federal and the KP governments had agreed on a formula for resolving issue of gas provision for domestic use in the southern districts of the province. Published in Dawn, June 7th, 2015 http://www.dawn.com/news/1186727/corporate-structure-of-energy-development-body-approved
IMERGARA: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government has approved over Rs57 million for construction of boundary walls of government schools for boys in Lower Dir district. This was stated by district education officer, male, Dr Hafiz Mohammad Ibrahim while addressing a meeting of schools’ principals and headmasters here on Saturday. He said that each high and higher secondary school in the district would also be provided Rs100, 000 for promotion of sports. Deputy Education Officer Mohammad Riaz and Assistant District Officers Ali Haidar and Fayyaz ud Din were also in attendance. Mr Ibrahim said that a total of 149 government primary, middle, high and higher secondary schools in the district would be provided with Rs3.85 million each. He said the amount had been transferred to the accounts of the parent-teacher councils of the schools. The DEO asked the schools’ heads to utilise the funds properly on development activities and send the work report to him. He also directed heads of schools to deduct from salaries of teachers found absent from duty by independent monitors from March 2014 to May 2015. http://www.dawn.com/news/1186723/rs57m-approved-for-dir-schools-boundary-walls
KOHAT: A big amount of Rs120 million has gone down the drain as work was abandoned on a waste treatment plant, which could not be made functional during the past 23 years for various reasons, sources said. They said that the government and the tehsil municipal administration could not utilise the precious land of the plant for any other purpose. The total cost of the project was Rs650 million. The main hurdle even today to its functioning was the clearance of a big sewer which was meant to take flushed waste miles away to the plant on Rawalpindi road. According to TMA officials, plastic shopping bags had choked the sewer line so hard that it could not be opened with shovels as the little opening allowed only one man to enter it. The waste treatment plant, which was constructed by the now defunct Peshawar Urban Development Board (PUDB) in1992 at a cost of Rs120 million with the cooperation of Asian Development Bank, failed due to encroachments on the city and bazaar drains. Asked who could be blamed for such a big loss, a senior official of the local government department of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa said, first of all the ADB which had refused to sanction an additional Rs25 million demanded by PUDB for completion of the project and then TMA which made several proposals, but could not arrange resources to accomplish the task. http://www.dawn.com/news/1186725/kohats-waste-treatment-plant-dysfunctional-for-over-20-years
MINGORA: More than 40 scholars are presently busy in research for their PhD theses on the art, culture, traditions and ancient civilisation of Swat, says Dr Mohammad Ashraf Khan, the director of Taxila Institute of Ancient Civilisations at Quaid-i-Azam University Islamabad. During visit to Swat Museum along with the archaeology and history students of the university on Sunday, he said that the oldest civilisation of Gandhara had been found in Swat valley. “We have come to visit the diverse archaeological sites from the rock carvings to stupas and other monuments of Gandhara civilisation,” said Dr Ashraf. He said that Padmasmabhawa, the Guru of Tantric Buddhism, was born in Swat and the religion was spread from there to Tibet, Korea, Japan and other countries. http://www.dawn.com/news/1186890/over-40-scholars-doing-phd-on-swat
PESHAWAR: The eight newly-elected councillors of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz and Jamiat Ulema-i- Islam-Fazl have joined hands in Town-4, Peshawar, to win the seat of town nazim with the support of independently elected councillors. “Presently, we have eight town councillors; six of PML-N and three of JUI-F, and we are trying to muster support of four other elected people for town nazim slot,” said Nasir Khan Musazai, PML-N provincial secretary information, while talking to Dawn on Sunday. He said that the Town-4 fell in the NA-4 constituency where his party had strengthened its roots by carrying out development schemes and thus the people had voted its candidates openly. The PML-N leader said that they held a meeting with JUI-F leader Haji Ghulam Ali and both the parties agreed to join hands for the purpose. He accused the provincial minister for irrigation, Shah Farman, of taking the law into his hands during local government elections and demanded legal action against him.
PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa elementary and secondary education department claimed on Saturday it would ensure 100 per cent utilisation of its annual development allocations by end of current fiscal year. According to a statement issued here, the education department said that it would achieve the target of utilising the entire Annual Development Fund of Rs19.9 billion. It is to mention here that the Centre for Governance and Public Accountability (CGPA) had in a statement said that the elementary and secondary education department’s utilisation stood at Rs9.3 billion as of June 5, 2015, out of the total Rs19.9 billion allocated to it in the 2014-15 budget, while quoting figures from the finance department. The CGPA regularly puts out figures of utilisation by various government departments, received under the Right to Information Act from the finance department. The CGPA had also said that almost 2.5 million children were out of school in the province, which the education department has termed as misleading. “No one knows how many children are out of school in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa,” said the statement of the education department. It further said that presumably the figure of 2.5 million children was derived from Alif Ailan, an NGO working on education across the country, which in its recent report stated that 25 million children were out of school across the country, of which 10 per cent were in KP. Published in Dawn, June 8th, 2015 http://www.dawn.com/news/1186906/education-dept-to-ensure-funds-utilisation-by-year-end
