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PESHAWAR, July 12: NWFP Governor Syed Iftikhar Hussain Shah at a meeting, here on Friday, directed the concerned authorities to remove procedural hurdles and streamline the process of devolution of powers in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata).
The meeting was held to review the progress on integration of civil armed forces and devolution of powers and responsibilities in Fata, according to a handout.
The governor stressed the need to speed up the restructuring of Governor’s Secretariat dealing exclusively with Fata, in order to devolve the powers and authorities of the line departments to the lower administrative tiers.
This, he said, would also accelerate the development process in Fata.
The meeting was attended by Chief Secretary Shakil Durrani, FC IG Maj-Gen Tajuddin Khan, FC Commandant Israr Shinwari, Home Secretary Javed Iqbal and other officials.
SOCIO-ECONOMIC INDICATORS: At a meeting on the Multiple Indicators Cluster Survey 2001, the governor stressed the need for having reliable data with regard to the prevailing socio-economic indicators for carrying out effective planning and development in the province.
The survey was jointly carried out by the Unicef and the respective departments of the federal and provincial governments.
About the outcome of the survey, he said, it was, in fact, the acknowledgement of the policies of the government on education and provision of health care services.
The governor said the uplift of the far-flung and remote areas were also the focus of the government. Keeping this fact in mind, he said, the ratio of resource allocations for such areas were already on the upward side.
He said with the recruitment of 1,000 lady health visitors (LHVs) in the near future, the situation would improve to a great extent in the rural areas.
Provincial Finance Minister Farid Rehman briefed the meeting about the outcome of the survey.
The meeting, besides others, was also attended by Education Minister Syed Imtiaz Hussain Gilani, Health Minister Dr Mehr Taj Roghani and Unicef representatives.
