PESHAWAR, May 15: Federal Interior Minister Aftab Ahmed Khan Sherpao said on Sunday that Mardan would soon get a machine-readable passport office, with a separate counter for women. The announcement was made during the minister’s meeting with a 30-member delegation of traders, headed by Ehsan Bacha, president of the Central Association of Traders in Mardan.

Mr Sherpao promised to provide protection to traders in Mardan and make every possible effort to end lawlessness in the district. He also assured the traders that he would extend all out support to them in their struggle for rights. “The problems being faced by the traders’ community will be solved on a priority basis,” he said, adding that traders were regarded as the backbone of the country’s economy.

Mr Sherpao claimed that the federal government had already taken a number of steps for their welfare. Calling Mardan a big city, he said that people there badly needed job opportunities and therefore the government had decided to give equal representation to domicile-holders of Mardan in the Yousufzai Platoon.

The minister sounded upbeat about the country’s improved economic condition and freshly spruced up political image. In his view Pakistan is heading towards prosperity, owing to the revolutionary steps taken by the government. He vowed that in the long run the benefits would trickle down to the people.

Under the present government the foreign exchange reserves had reached a record-high $15 billion, the highest in the country’s history.