April 12, 2002	Friday	Muharram 28, 1423

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TIMERGARA, April 11: NWFP Governor Syed Iftikhar Hussain Shah has commended the role played by the elected representatives of Malakand in running the affairs of the district government and called upon them to ensure honesty in their deeds so that the actual sense of the devolution plan could be achieved.

He was speaking at a gathering of Nazimeen and councillors of Malakand division on Thursday.

The governor said role of the elected representatives was very important as they now had full authority for tackling the affairs of their district.

He said the previous system was like a tender plant while the new one could only be converted into a strong tree when the elected people themselves struggled to achieve the desired goal. Under the old system, he added, a lot of complications were faced by the people specially because of the hurdles created by the bureaucrats in every aspect of life.

The governor said that President Musharraf had taken a bold step to change the old system with a better setup that had now taken full control of the public affairs.

The governor also reminded the elected representatives that at the time of launching of the new system, it was apprehended that in the absence of specialized group of officers it would not be possible to check affairs of the districts but now both the people and their representatives had practically negated all such propaganda by the vested elements.

Iftikhar Shah said the people’s representatives were demonstrating excellent skills in dealing with the official business and taking decisions collectively. He also disclosed that no discretionary power had been given to any one among the elected people rather they have to settle all their issues in consultation with each other and that was the actual spirit behind the devolution of power to the gross-roots level. He said the elected people were empowered to include or drop any of the development schemes in their district.

The governor said millions of rupees had been put at the disposal of the elected representatives and urged elected representatives not to follow on the footsteps of the old practice of corruption and ensure transparency in their working.

He said Pre