The name of PPP MPA from PF-89 Chitral-1 has been finalised for the NWFP cabinet.
Mr Saleem Khan, a resident of Garam Chashma, would be one of the nine PPP ministers in the 21-member cabinet of Haider Hoti. Saleem Khan has been allocated the social welfare minsitry.
Sunday, March 30, 2008
Saturday, March 29, 2008
Suffering in silence thy name is (Chitrali) women
By Sadia Akbar & Malika Arfeen
With almost 50 per cent of the population, women can play an important role in development of the country. But they can only become active members of society if they are well educated, financially strong and are in good health.
As far as women in Chitral are concerned, they have always worked side by
side with males but their contribution to the collective economic development
has been insignificant, as they have not been in the mainstream of life and still remain confined to the four walls of their homes entangled in myriads
of social, economic and cultural problems.
As awareness is the key to progress and prosperity, women in Chitral
have remained ignorant of their rights due to lack of education. This is
because the government has failed to ensure educational facilities at the
doorsteps of the people and parents feel shy of sending their daughters
away for higher education. Even today, there are no prospects women of the valley can have sufficient number of institutions to easily acquire
education in their home villages.
This is also to be noted that in other districts of the conservative
NWFP, people have generally been averse to female education. But in Chitral
they highly value education and have even constructed school buildings for girls on a self-help basis in collaboration with the Aga Khan Education Service. As a result, the literacy rate for women in Chitral today is one of the highest in the country.
The district with an area of 14,850 square-km consists of over 320 small villages and hamlets which are sparsely located in a number of sub-valleys. So the educational institutions are located at long distances from many villages and students have to travel on foot to reach their schools.
As a result, on the one hand girl students find it difficult to continue education and on the other the daily long distance shuttling leaves bad effects on their health. The local people are financially weak and cannot send their daughters out of the district for higher education. As a result, after completing primary or secondary level education, girls remain confined to their houses. But the urge to acquire education does not fade away and they pursue to get education while siting in homes and doing domestic chores.
Ironically, the government has set up very few schools for girls as compared to those meant for boys. While after secondary level, the situation even becomes worse. There is only one degree college in the whole district for girls that too in the main town of Chitral.
This makes it impossible for a majority of girl students who live in far-flung villages to take admission in the college and then continue education due to accommodation and other problems.
Besides, due to social norms like observance of Purdah, parents avoid sending their daughters to institutions offering co-education. Economic condition of the people does not allow them to send their children to private educational institutions which is another factor hindering girls to acquire higher education and play active role in nation building.
Education is life-long process. After formal schooling one has to be in touch with books, magazines, newspapers, etc., which should be available to every educated persons to increase his/her knowledge. In this regard, the valley of Chitral is very backward as except a single library located in Chitral town there is no concept of availability of reading materials through public or private channels. Even outside the main town, newspapers reading is rare as they are not available due to communication problems and lack of resources.
Rampant poverty in the district has also been an stumbling block
in spreading the light of education. A vast majority of people in
the district depend on subsistence agriculture and live below the
poverty line.
People after educating their children fail to find employment for
them and think that spending on education was a futile exercise.
Today we find that there are at least two to three educated girls
in every house in the district but there are no jobs for them. Some
people say girls in Chitral have no prospects of gaining respectable
jobs after education like in banking, administration,etc., because
these sectors are almost non-existent in the valley. They say if the
destiny of an educated girl is the same ie to do household chorus
and graze the cattle and become economic burden on the male members
of her family then what is the need of educating her at the first
place.
Peculiar social norms and cultural mores also go against women's
mental and psychological progress. One of them is early marriage. Though
the practice was more prevalent in old days it has somehow decreased
in the recent times. Marriage in tender age creates multi-faceted problems
for the girls. They cannot bear the domestic responsibility in her
in-laws and after becoming mother in almost childhood the girl faces
health-related complications. Early marriage was also a result of
lack of education and poverty due to which parents mostly wanted to
get rid of their daughters before they could bring `bad name' for
the family.
Another problem for women is decision-making power which rests with
the male members of the family. Women's opinion is rarely sought in
various decisions even if it directly concern her.
Last not the least is the fact that unless the woman possesses
strong health - both physical and mental - she cannot play her role
as a mother, daughter, sister and wife in a family and as a member
of a society as a whole. Chitrali women in this respect are the
victim of nature, as they are even deprived of basic healthcare
facilities due to unsuitable geography of their area.
Despite all these, however, the women of Chitral are ready to brace
for the unavoidable circumstances and carry out their responsibilities
in a dignified manner.
With almost 50 per cent of the population, women can play an important role in development of the country. But they can only become active members of society if they are well educated, financially strong and are in good health.
As far as women in Chitral are concerned, they have always worked side by
side with males but their contribution to the collective economic development
has been insignificant, as they have not been in the mainstream of life and still remain confined to the four walls of their homes entangled in myriads
of social, economic and cultural problems.
As awareness is the key to progress and prosperity, women in Chitral
have remained ignorant of their rights due to lack of education. This is
because the government has failed to ensure educational facilities at the
doorsteps of the people and parents feel shy of sending their daughters
away for higher education. Even today, there are no prospects women of the valley can have sufficient number of institutions to easily acquire
education in their home villages.
This is also to be noted that in other districts of the conservative
NWFP, people have generally been averse to female education. But in Chitral
they highly value education and have even constructed school buildings for girls on a self-help basis in collaboration with the Aga Khan Education Service. As a result, the literacy rate for women in Chitral today is one of the highest in the country.
The district with an area of 14,850 square-km consists of over 320 small villages and hamlets which are sparsely located in a number of sub-valleys. So the educational institutions are located at long distances from many villages and students have to travel on foot to reach their schools.
As a result, on the one hand girl students find it difficult to continue education and on the other the daily long distance shuttling leaves bad effects on their health. The local people are financially weak and cannot send their daughters out of the district for higher education. As a result, after completing primary or secondary level education, girls remain confined to their houses. But the urge to acquire education does not fade away and they pursue to get education while siting in homes and doing domestic chores.
Ironically, the government has set up very few schools for girls as compared to those meant for boys. While after secondary level, the situation even becomes worse. There is only one degree college in the whole district for girls that too in the main town of Chitral.
This makes it impossible for a majority of girl students who live in far-flung villages to take admission in the college and then continue education due to accommodation and other problems.
Besides, due to social norms like observance of Purdah, parents avoid sending their daughters to institutions offering co-education. Economic condition of the people does not allow them to send their children to private educational institutions which is another factor hindering girls to acquire higher education and play active role in nation building.
Education is life-long process. After formal schooling one has to be in touch with books, magazines, newspapers, etc., which should be available to every educated persons to increase his/her knowledge. In this regard, the valley of Chitral is very backward as except a single library located in Chitral town there is no concept of availability of reading materials through public or private channels. Even outside the main town, newspapers reading is rare as they are not available due to communication problems and lack of resources.
Rampant poverty in the district has also been an stumbling block
in spreading the light of education. A vast majority of people in
the district depend on subsistence agriculture and live below the
poverty line.
People after educating their children fail to find employment for
them and think that spending on education was a futile exercise.
Today we find that there are at least two to three educated girls
in every house in the district but there are no jobs for them. Some
people say girls in Chitral have no prospects of gaining respectable
jobs after education like in banking, administration,etc., because
these sectors are almost non-existent in the valley. They say if the
destiny of an educated girl is the same ie to do household chorus
and graze the cattle and become economic burden on the male members
of her family then what is the need of educating her at the first
place.
Peculiar social norms and cultural mores also go against women's
mental and psychological progress. One of them is early marriage. Though
the practice was more prevalent in old days it has somehow decreased
in the recent times. Marriage in tender age creates multi-faceted problems
for the girls. They cannot bear the domestic responsibility in her
in-laws and after becoming mother in almost childhood the girl faces
health-related complications. Early marriage was also a result of
lack of education and poverty due to which parents mostly wanted to
get rid of their daughters before they could bring `bad name' for
the family.
Another problem for women is decision-making power which rests with
the male members of the family. Women's opinion is rarely sought in
various decisions even if it directly concern her.
Last not the least is the fact that unless the woman possesses
strong health - both physical and mental - she cannot play her role
as a mother, daughter, sister and wife in a family and as a member
of a society as a whole. Chitrali women in this respect are the
victim of nature, as they are even deprived of basic healthcare
facilities due to unsuitable geography of their area.
Despite all these, however, the women of Chitral are ready to brace
for the unavoidable circumstances and carry out their responsibilities
in a dignified manner.
News website to be launched
A news website aimed to bring round the clock happenings in Chitral and highlight Chitral's socio-economic problems is being launched very soon.
The portal would be brought out under the editorship of Zar Alam khan
The portal would be brought out under the editorship of Zar Alam khan
Monday, March 10, 2008
Aga Khan to visit Chitral
Preparations have started to welcome Prince Karim Aga Khan who will visit remote villages of Chitral between April 15 and 25.
The religious leaders are holding meetings at the local levela in Yarkhun and other valleys of Chitral to discuss the preparatiions.
The religious leaders are holding meetings at the local levela in Yarkhun and other valleys of Chitral to discuss the preparatiions.
Saturday, March 1, 2008
Sympathy votes go to PML-Q
DAWN
By Zar Alam Khan
THE Lowari rail tunnel and a number of other projects launched
on the directives of President Pervez Musharraf in Chitral won
`sympathy' votes for the Pakistan Muslim League (PML-Q) in the
February 18 elections.
The decisive votes for the king's party in the constituency
of NA-32 came from the Mastuj subdivision, mostly from the valleys
of Yarkhun and Laspur. The subdivision's one provincial assembly
seat also went to the Musharraf-backed party.
Prominently displaying the portraits of the president, the
PML-Q candidates reminded the voters of the `favours' Mr Musharraf
had done for the Chitralis by launching the gigantic Lowari tunnel
project, constructing vital roads and writing off small loans
owned by poor farmers to the Zarai Tarqiati Bank (ZTBL).
The PML-Q also cashed in on the MMA government's dismal performance
and dissent in the local leadership of the PPP over allotment of
ticket.
The Pakistan People's Party not only lost the National Assembly
seat for the fifth consecutive time but also saw its votes further
slumping by 4 per cent compared to the 2002 elections. When the
party last won the seat in 1988, it had polled 55 per cent of the
total votes cast which also dropped to 20.9 per cent this year.
Shahzada Mohiuddin of the PML-Q won the National Assembly seat
by scoring 33,236 votes against 30,961 votes of Sardar Mohammad
Khan, an independent. The PPP's Shahzada Ghulam Mohiuddin trailed
behind with 18,717 votes, while 2,679 votes went to MMA's Jehangir
Khan (withdrawn) and 697 to Nadir Khwaja, another independent.
Out of the 197,022 registered votes, 89,449 used their right of
franchise - a turnout of 45.40 per cent.
Both the former MMA members of the NWFP assembly belonging to
the JUI-F lost to the PPP and PML-Q candidates. In PF-89 Chitral-1,
PPP's Saleem Khan defeated Maulana Abdul Rehman by a narrow
margin of 622 votes. The JUI-F candidate got 12,322 votes. The
turnout remained 45.34 per cent, as 52,393 votes were polled out
of a total of 115,531.
In PF-90 Chitral-II, the former MPA, Jehangir Khan lost to
PML-Q's Ghulam Mohammad who got 13,570 votes against 12,985 votes
of the MMA nominee. There were 81,491 registered votes in the area
out of which 37,635 were polled and the turnout remained 46.18.
Shahzada Mohiuddin wins NA-32 again
CHITRAL: Shahzada Mohiuddin again won the Chitral National Assembly seat by defeating an independent candidate, Sardar Mohammad Khan by a margin of about 2600 votes. He secured 32,731 votes against 31,075 of the independent contender. PPPP's Shahzada Ghulam Mohiuddin remained third with 18624 votes.
Shahzada Mohiuddin standing on the PML-Q was lagging behind initially but the results of upper Chitral gave him a complete edge over the maverick new comer.
The PML (Q) also won the provincial Assembly seat PF 90 of upper Chitral through Ghulam Muhammad by securing 13324 votes beating MMA's Moulana Jahangir 13010 votes and PPPP's Shahzada Nisar Jillanee 9597 votes respectively. In PF 89 lower Chitral, provincial Assembly constituency, Muhammad Saleem Khan of the PPPP won the seat by securing 12749 votes against MMA's Moulana Abdul Rahman 12320 and PPP (S) candidate Abdul Wali Khan Advocate 11528 votes. PML (Q)'s Muhammad Shokore got 7103 votes and PML(N)'s Fazl Rahim Advocate got 4303 votes.
Personality main factor in Chitral
DAWN
By Zar Alam Khan
IF past is to take cue from, political parties will count for little as personality clout will hold sway over election for the lone National Assembly and two provincial assembly seats of Chitral.A three-time MNA and former minister of state, two MPAs, religious scholars, lawyers, government contractors as well as a journalist are in the run for the said seats.The constituency - NA-32 - spreads over 14,850 sq-km with hard-to-access, scattered and remote villages having a total population of about 400,000. The number of registered voters in the constituency is 197,022 out of which 107,804 are males and 89,218 are female voters.Clan affiliations, regional rivalries and sectarian divide have been determining factors in all elections held since this formerly princely state was merged into the NWFP as a settled district in 1969.The former minister, Shahzada Mohiuddin, is contesting on the ticket of Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) while the PPP has fielded Shahzada Ghulam Mohiuddin. PPP dissident Sardar Mohammad Khan and Nadir Khwaja, a journalist working with a Peshawar-based Urdu daily, are also in the fray as independent candidates.In the six general elections held since 1985, the seat has gone to Shahzada Mohiuddin three times, to Jamaat-i-Islami twice and the PPP once.In the 1985 party-less elections, Mr Mohiuddin was elected from the area. In 1988, Nusrat Bhutto of the PPP returned with 32,819 votes against Mr Mohiuddin's 23,405 votes and later vacated the seat for a local party worker, Ghafoor Shah. Since then the PPP has not been able to win the seat due to nomination of unsuitable persons including outsiders.In 1990, Mr Mohiuddin defeated Piyar Ali Allana of the PPP, a resident of Karachi, by a margin of 14,641 votes. The PPP got 21,628 votes.In 1993, the seat went to Pakistan Islamic Front's Maulana Abdul Rahim who scored 16,275 votes against 15,765 of Begum Suleman Khan of the PPP.In 1997, Mr Mohiuddin contesting on the ticket of the PML-N again won the seat with 24,302 votes defeating the PPP's Ahmad Saeed Khan who got 12,222 votes. While in 2002, the MMA rooted the PML-Q by a margin of over 13,000 votes.
Electioneering gains momentum
CHITRAL: Electioneering in Chitral which was subdued due to persistent snowfall and subzero temperatures has come alive with improvement in the weather.
Less than a week left for the big day, candidates have started public meetings and intensified their door to door contacts. The significant feature of the elections is the absence of the Jamaat Islami, a major political party in Chitral which has boycotted the elections thus putting a question mark on the credibility of the present process.
For the sole National Assembly seat, there are four candidates in the run which include Shahzada Mohiuddin (PML (Q), Shahzada Ghulam Mohiuddin (PPPP), Sardar Muhammad (Independent) and Nadir Khwaja (Independent).
The main contest is likely to be witnessed between the PML (Q) candidate and Independent Sardar Muhammad.
PPPP Workers including founding members, veterans, Nazims, students bodies etc had overwhelmingly recommended Wg Cdr (r) Fardad Ali Shah as their candidate for the National Assembly, but the party high command for reasons unknown, decided at the eleventh hour to award the ticket to Shahzada Ghulam Muhiuddin, effectively decapitating the party tempo in Chitral.
Old guards of the party talking to this scribe blamed the party's District president for engineering this conspiracy against the party, to cede the National Assembly seat to Shahzada Mohiuddin of the (PML Q), they said. Workers of the PPPP expressing no confidence in the district president, decided to field Sardar Muhammad as an independent candidate.
In PF 89 provincial assembly constituency comprising Chitral sub division, the competition is between Muhammad Salim Khan PPPP. Abdul Wali Khan, PPP (S), Moulana Abdur Rehman (MMA), Shokore Muhammad (PMLQ), Fazle Rahim (PML N).
In PF 90 provincial Assembly constituency comprising Mastuj sub division, the competition is between Shahzada Nisar Jillani (PPPP), Moulana Jahangir (MMA), Ghulam Muhammad (PML(Q).
Weather is expected to be fair on the election day which is a very important consideration for the turnout status of the voters. --CN Report
By Zar Alam Khan
THE Lowari rail tunnel and a number of other projects launched
on the directives of President Pervez Musharraf in Chitral won
`sympathy' votes for the Pakistan Muslim League (PML-Q) in the
February 18 elections.
The decisive votes for the king's party in the constituency
of NA-32 came from the Mastuj subdivision, mostly from the valleys
of Yarkhun and Laspur. The subdivision's one provincial assembly
seat also went to the Musharraf-backed party.
Prominently displaying the portraits of the president, the
PML-Q candidates reminded the voters of the `favours' Mr Musharraf
had done for the Chitralis by launching the gigantic Lowari tunnel
project, constructing vital roads and writing off small loans
owned by poor farmers to the Zarai Tarqiati Bank (ZTBL).
The PML-Q also cashed in on the MMA government's dismal performance
and dissent in the local leadership of the PPP over allotment of
ticket.
The Pakistan People's Party not only lost the National Assembly
seat for the fifth consecutive time but also saw its votes further
slumping by 4 per cent compared to the 2002 elections. When the
party last won the seat in 1988, it had polled 55 per cent of the
total votes cast which also dropped to 20.9 per cent this year.
Shahzada Mohiuddin of the PML-Q won the National Assembly seat
by scoring 33,236 votes against 30,961 votes of Sardar Mohammad
Khan, an independent. The PPP's Shahzada Ghulam Mohiuddin trailed
behind with 18,717 votes, while 2,679 votes went to MMA's Jehangir
Khan (withdrawn) and 697 to Nadir Khwaja, another independent.
Out of the 197,022 registered votes, 89,449 used their right of
franchise - a turnout of 45.40 per cent.
Both the former MMA members of the NWFP assembly belonging to
the JUI-F lost to the PPP and PML-Q candidates. In PF-89 Chitral-1,
PPP's Saleem Khan defeated Maulana Abdul Rehman by a narrow
margin of 622 votes. The JUI-F candidate got 12,322 votes. The
turnout remained 45.34 per cent, as 52,393 votes were polled out
of a total of 115,531.
In PF-90 Chitral-II, the former MPA, Jehangir Khan lost to
PML-Q's Ghulam Mohammad who got 13,570 votes against 12,985 votes
of the MMA nominee. There were 81,491 registered votes in the area
out of which 37,635 were polled and the turnout remained 46.18.
Shahzada Mohiuddin wins NA-32 again
CHITRAL: Shahzada Mohiuddin again won the Chitral National Assembly seat by defeating an independent candidate, Sardar Mohammad Khan by a margin of about 2600 votes. He secured 32,731 votes against 31,075 of the independent contender. PPPP's Shahzada Ghulam Mohiuddin remained third with 18624 votes.
Shahzada Mohiuddin standing on the PML-Q was lagging behind initially but the results of upper Chitral gave him a complete edge over the maverick new comer.
The PML (Q) also won the provincial Assembly seat PF 90 of upper Chitral through Ghulam Muhammad by securing 13324 votes beating MMA's Moulana Jahangir 13010 votes and PPPP's Shahzada Nisar Jillanee 9597 votes respectively. In PF 89 lower Chitral, provincial Assembly constituency, Muhammad Saleem Khan of the PPPP won the seat by securing 12749 votes against MMA's Moulana Abdul Rahman 12320 and PPP (S) candidate Abdul Wali Khan Advocate 11528 votes. PML (Q)'s Muhammad Shokore got 7103 votes and PML(N)'s Fazl Rahim Advocate got 4303 votes.
Personality main factor in Chitral
DAWN
By Zar Alam Khan
IF past is to take cue from, political parties will count for little as personality clout will hold sway over election for the lone National Assembly and two provincial assembly seats of Chitral.A three-time MNA and former minister of state, two MPAs, religious scholars, lawyers, government contractors as well as a journalist are in the run for the said seats.The constituency - NA-32 - spreads over 14,850 sq-km with hard-to-access, scattered and remote villages having a total population of about 400,000. The number of registered voters in the constituency is 197,022 out of which 107,804 are males and 89,218 are female voters.Clan affiliations, regional rivalries and sectarian divide have been determining factors in all elections held since this formerly princely state was merged into the NWFP as a settled district in 1969.The former minister, Shahzada Mohiuddin, is contesting on the ticket of Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) while the PPP has fielded Shahzada Ghulam Mohiuddin. PPP dissident Sardar Mohammad Khan and Nadir Khwaja, a journalist working with a Peshawar-based Urdu daily, are also in the fray as independent candidates.In the six general elections held since 1985, the seat has gone to Shahzada Mohiuddin three times, to Jamaat-i-Islami twice and the PPP once.In the 1985 party-less elections, Mr Mohiuddin was elected from the area. In 1988, Nusrat Bhutto of the PPP returned with 32,819 votes against Mr Mohiuddin's 23,405 votes and later vacated the seat for a local party worker, Ghafoor Shah. Since then the PPP has not been able to win the seat due to nomination of unsuitable persons including outsiders.In 1990, Mr Mohiuddin defeated Piyar Ali Allana of the PPP, a resident of Karachi, by a margin of 14,641 votes. The PPP got 21,628 votes.In 1993, the seat went to Pakistan Islamic Front's Maulana Abdul Rahim who scored 16,275 votes against 15,765 of Begum Suleman Khan of the PPP.In 1997, Mr Mohiuddin contesting on the ticket of the PML-N again won the seat with 24,302 votes defeating the PPP's Ahmad Saeed Khan who got 12,222 votes. While in 2002, the MMA rooted the PML-Q by a margin of over 13,000 votes.
Electioneering gains momentum
CHITRAL: Electioneering in Chitral which was subdued due to persistent snowfall and subzero temperatures has come alive with improvement in the weather.
Less than a week left for the big day, candidates have started public meetings and intensified their door to door contacts. The significant feature of the elections is the absence of the Jamaat Islami, a major political party in Chitral which has boycotted the elections thus putting a question mark on the credibility of the present process.
For the sole National Assembly seat, there are four candidates in the run which include Shahzada Mohiuddin (PML (Q), Shahzada Ghulam Mohiuddin (PPPP), Sardar Muhammad (Independent) and Nadir Khwaja (Independent).
The main contest is likely to be witnessed between the PML (Q) candidate and Independent Sardar Muhammad.
PPPP Workers including founding members, veterans, Nazims, students bodies etc had overwhelmingly recommended Wg Cdr (r) Fardad Ali Shah as their candidate for the National Assembly, but the party high command for reasons unknown, decided at the eleventh hour to award the ticket to Shahzada Ghulam Muhiuddin, effectively decapitating the party tempo in Chitral.
Old guards of the party talking to this scribe blamed the party's District president for engineering this conspiracy against the party, to cede the National Assembly seat to Shahzada Mohiuddin of the (PML Q), they said. Workers of the PPPP expressing no confidence in the district president, decided to field Sardar Muhammad as an independent candidate.
In PF 89 provincial assembly constituency comprising Chitral sub division, the competition is between Muhammad Salim Khan PPPP. Abdul Wali Khan, PPP (S), Moulana Abdur Rehman (MMA), Shokore Muhammad (PMLQ), Fazle Rahim (PML N).
In PF 90 provincial Assembly constituency comprising Mastuj sub division, the competition is between Shahzada Nisar Jillani (PPPP), Moulana Jahangir (MMA), Ghulam Muhammad (PML(Q).
Weather is expected to be fair on the election day which is a very important consideration for the turnout status of the voters. --CN Report
PPP can recapture Chitral: MPA-elect
By Zar Alam Khan
ISLAMABAD, Feb 28: The workers of Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Chitral chapter expect that the upcoming governments in the centre and the NWFP would give top priority to the development of the district to win back the grassroots support it once enjoyed in the area.“Drastic actions are required to woo back the estranged workers, and allocation of a seat for the area in the next provincial cabinet would help achieve the objective,” said Saleem Khan, the lone PPP MPA-elect from PF-89 Chitral-I during his visit to the Dawn offices here accompanied by the district nazim of Chitral, Maghfirat Shah.The MPA-elect said Chitral had long been ignored both by the federal and provincial governments. Areawise it is the biggest district of the province but funds are allocated to it on the basis of population which are not enough as the area has no income of its own while mineral, hydropower and other resources still remain untapped.He said his first priority would be to develop healthcare, educational facilities and communication infrastructure which were all in a shambles.He said torrential rains, snowfall, landsliding and other calamities during the last a couple of years had wreaked havoc on the already poor communication infrastructure. As a result, roads in Arandu, Birir, Bumburet, Arkari, Gobor and other areas were in a dilapidated condition and needed urgent repair. Besides, the valley also faces a crisis of power shortage as demand was increasing but the valley’s potential to generate over 4,000MW hydro-electricity had not been explored. He regretted that the Rs6.5 billion 106MW Golen Gol hydropower project had been left in the cold storage after preparation of the feasibility report and acquisition of land. He asked the federal government to expedite work on the project to resolve the power crisis in the valley.About lack of healthcare facilities, he said a number of BHUs had been set up in various parts of the district but they were still without staff. The district and the tehsil headquarters hospitals also lacked staff and facilities. As a result, patients suffer a lot particularly in winter when the valley is cut off from rest of the country for five months.He said the district also needed a university and postgraduate colleges. At present there were one degree college for men and one for women that too were in the main town. As a result, students after passing the HSSC examination either discontinue education or have to move to urban areas.The district nazim, who belongs to the Jamaat-i-Islami, said people pinned high hopes in the future PPP government regarding development of the valley.He said the NWFP government had sanctioned Rs100 million for rehabilitation of destroyed roads. He said work on the Mastuj bridge had already started while tenders had been floated for the construction of Booni-Shandur road and the damaged bridge linking the Yarkhun valley with other parts of the district.They complained that the PML-Q candidates in the valley had utilised the resources of an NGO in their election campaigns. They alleged that the PML-Q candidates accompanied announced development projects including construction of roads, bridges and power houses and asked the people to vote for them.
ISLAMABAD, Feb 28: The workers of Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Chitral chapter expect that the upcoming governments in the centre and the NWFP would give top priority to the development of the district to win back the grassroots support it once enjoyed in the area.“Drastic actions are required to woo back the estranged workers, and allocation of a seat for the area in the next provincial cabinet would help achieve the objective,” said Saleem Khan, the lone PPP MPA-elect from PF-89 Chitral-I during his visit to the Dawn offices here accompanied by the district nazim of Chitral, Maghfirat Shah.The MPA-elect said Chitral had long been ignored both by the federal and provincial governments. Areawise it is the biggest district of the province but funds are allocated to it on the basis of population which are not enough as the area has no income of its own while mineral, hydropower and other resources still remain untapped.He said his first priority would be to develop healthcare, educational facilities and communication infrastructure which were all in a shambles.He said torrential rains, snowfall, landsliding and other calamities during the last a couple of years had wreaked havoc on the already poor communication infrastructure. As a result, roads in Arandu, Birir, Bumburet, Arkari, Gobor and other areas were in a dilapidated condition and needed urgent repair. Besides, the valley also faces a crisis of power shortage as demand was increasing but the valley’s potential to generate over 4,000MW hydro-electricity had not been explored. He regretted that the Rs6.5 billion 106MW Golen Gol hydropower project had been left in the cold storage after preparation of the feasibility report and acquisition of land. He asked the federal government to expedite work on the project to resolve the power crisis in the valley.About lack of healthcare facilities, he said a number of BHUs had been set up in various parts of the district but they were still without staff. The district and the tehsil headquarters hospitals also lacked staff and facilities. As a result, patients suffer a lot particularly in winter when the valley is cut off from rest of the country for five months.He said the district also needed a university and postgraduate colleges. At present there were one degree college for men and one for women that too were in the main town. As a result, students after passing the HSSC examination either discontinue education or have to move to urban areas.The district nazim, who belongs to the Jamaat-i-Islami, said people pinned high hopes in the future PPP government regarding development of the valley.He said the NWFP government had sanctioned Rs100 million for rehabilitation of destroyed roads. He said work on the Mastuj bridge had already started while tenders had been floated for the construction of Booni-Shandur road and the damaged bridge linking the Yarkhun valley with other parts of the district.They complained that the PML-Q candidates in the valley had utilised the resources of an NGO in their election campaigns. They alleged that the PML-Q candidates accompanied announced development projects including construction of roads, bridges and power houses and asked the people to vote for them.
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Awesome and rugged
Beauty of Chitral
Kishmanja, a beautiful village in Yarkhun valley
Lush green
DIZG: threatened by floods
The legendary village of Ayun in Chitral
On way to Bumburet
Dizg, Yarkhun
About Me
- Zar Alam Khan Razakhel
- Village Dizg, Yarkhun valley, Chitral, Pakistan
- I blog at http://chitraltoday.net (ChitralToday) about Chitral, its people, culture, traditions and issues. I have been writing about Chitral since 2000. Chitral is a scenic valley in the extreme north-west of Pakistan.