PESHAWAR, Jan 27: The NWFP cabinet here on Saturday constituted a committee to evolve consensus among different political groups for replacing the colonial-era name of the North West Frontier Province.

Provincial Minister for Law and Parliamentary Affairs Malik Zafar Azam will lead the committee to take various political parties and segments of society into confidence to propose an appropriate name for the province.

Giving details of the cabinet meeting at a press conference, minister for Information Asif Iqbal Daudzai said that the committee would complete its task within 10 days and would submit its report to the chief minister immediately.

“The government wants to give an appropriate name to the province with consensus,” the minister said, adding that under the constitution the provincial government could change the name of the province. He said the government had yet to propose a name for the province.

The cabinet meeting, which was presided over by Chief Minister Akram Khan Durrani, decided to hand over construction work of the Swat-Khwazakhela-Kalam Road and the Alpuri-Bisham Road from the Frontier Highway Authority to the National Highway Authority (NHA). The decision was taken on the directives of President Gen Pervez Musharraf to expedite work on the under-construction highway connecting various tourist places in upper parts of the province.

The cabinet also demanded of the federal government to appoint judges in the High Court Circuit benches in Bannu and Malakand.

Mr Daudzai said that the cabinet discussed general law and order situation and the cases of kidnapping for ransom in various parts of the province. In this connection, he said, the cabinet had asked the Civil Secretariat, Fata, to fulfil its legal responsibilities and ensure recovery of all kidnapped persons particularly the Resident Editor of Express.

He said that the gang, who is involved in the kidnapping of Resident Editor Suhail Qalandar had been identified and now it was the responsibility of the political administration of the Khyber Agency to ensure the safe recovery of the journalist.