Transparency in stipends for gril students urged

By Zahiruddin



CHITRAL: Residents of Chitral have demanded of the government to ensure transparency in disbursement of stipends to the female students studying in government-run schools.

Talking to Dawn here on Tuesday, a number of residents said that strict vigilance should be kept over officials responsible for disbursing the amount among the students. They said that committees at union council level should be constituted to monitor the process.

They proposed that the stipend money must be delivered in the presence of committee members so that no one might be able to cheat the students. They hailed the government for taking such a step, saying, this would enable the poor students to carry on their studies and would also effectively check the dropout rate.

The residents said that although the enrolment rate of female students at primary level was very high but the dropout rate was also alarming because of poverty in the remote valleys of Chitral.



MAN DIES: Yet another person lost his life while crossing the Lowari Top after officials of the National Highway Authority (NHA) denied him permission to pass through the Lowari tunnel, sources said.

The deceased, Niamatur Rehman, was a resident of Sheshi Koh valley and was serving in the Frontier Constabulary and was going back to his place of posting in Darra Adamkhel.

The Chitral police recovered his body from under the avalanche and handed over to his relatives.

During the current winter season, more than fifteen persons have died in their desperate attempt to cross the snow-clad Lowari Top located at an altitude of 10,230 feet above the sea level.

The residents have condemned the incidents in which precious human lives were lost and held the federal government responsible for the casualties by not allowing the passengers to pass through the tunnel.--Dawn