October 24, 2003	Friday	Sha’aban 27, 1424

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PESHAWAR, Oct 23: NWFP Chief Minister Akram Khan Durrani has said that education, health and improved services in the social sector would continue to be the priority areas of his government.

He was talking to a UNDP Mission headed by Onder Yuser, the country chief of the agency, at the Frontier House here.

He said that after coming into power, his government did not discontinue the developmental exercise initiated by the previous governments because these activities were meant for the people. His government wished these welfare activities to continue, he added.

“My government would never put obstacles in the developmental exercise because the essence of these activities is the welfare of the people,” he said.

The chief minister said his government “greatly values” the cooperation of UNDP and assured full cooperation of the frontier government in the implementation of projects initiated by it.

Referring to the priorities of his government, the chief minister said that his government had prioritized education, health, roads, drinking water and other social sectors and major allocations had been made for these sectors.

“We lag behind in education, health and services in the social sectors. At the same time, we also lack resources to improve these sectors,” he noted, and went on to add that his government had drastically slashed non-developmental activities to cope with the situation. A strict financial discipline resulted in the resources being diverted to the developmental side.

He said his government was making all-out efforts to exploit the natural resources of the province for the benefit of the people.

In the tourism sector, he said, the province had diversified potential. He said his government was laying down necessary infrastructure in Swat, Shugran, Kaghan, Kumrat and other picturesque areas to attract tourists in a big way. This would not only earn the province the precious foreign exchange but also create employment opportunities for the locals. This year, the chief minister informed the UNDP mission, “we had a record number of tourists to the picturesque areas.”

On steps to enhance female literacy, he referred to the establishment of a Women University, women medical college and initiation of postgraduate classes in the female degree colleges. These steps were in line with the conservative society of the province.

He said in certain areas, the parents did not send their female children for education, therefore, the government decided to open these institutions exclusively for women so that did not suffer, and got education.

This year, he said, his government had planned to recruit 10,000 teachers to overcome staff deficiencies in primary schools throughout the province. He also referred to the government’s decision to declare education up to Matric free, provide books and uniforms to the primary level children and make education up to middle compulsory. He said that under the AGN Qazi formula, the federal government “is bound to pay Rs17 billion as net profit on hydel power generation.