January 20, 2008	Sunday	Muharram 10, 1429

PESHAWAR, Jan 19: The caretaker set up in NWFP has ordered the renaming of five model schools, which are named after past and present religio-political figures by the former MMA government, it is learnt.

The caretaker government has recently issued directives to change the names of five educational institutions, a senior official of School and Literacy Department (S&LD) confirmed here on Saturday, adding that the decision is likely to engender another controversy in days to come.

The former MMA government had earmarked hefty amount for the construction of five English-medium schools, named after its past and present leaders in different district including Bannu, Dera Ismail Khan, Swabi, Dir and Nowshera.

The MMA government had spent collectively Rs129.504 million on these projects during the last financial year, whereas the budget estimates for the current fiscal year carry an allocation of Rs393.772 million for them.

“The caretaker set-up, an amalgamation of anti-MMA parties, argued that development projects should not be named after the political personalities because it would create controversies,” explained the official, when asked for the logic behind the decision.

He informed that in line with the directives of caretaker government, a summary was being moved to the chief minister with proposed names for each project.

The caretaker chief minister Shamsul Mulk had directed the concerned quarters to propose new names for these schools, which should depict history or any other important feature of the area, where they were being built, he added.

Huge spending on these projects had caused heated debate in the Frontier Assembly’s current year budget session, where not only the opposition, but also some members from the treasury benches were at the forefront in criticising the move.

The former MMA government had earmarked an amount of Rs170 million for the second phase of establishment of Durrani Model Public School at Bannu named after the former chief minister Akram Khan Durrani.

In last fiscal year, an amount of Rs119 million had already been spent on the project.

Likewise, another school-Fazli Ali Model School at Kotha Swabi- had been named after Maulana Fazli Ali, the education minister of the former MMA government. The government had spent Rs5 million on the projects, while Rs98.772 million were allocated for it during the current fiscal year.

Mufti Mahmood Public School at Dera Ismail Khan is another project, where Rs5 million had already been consumed, whereas allocation of the current fiscal year is Rs90 million.

This school had been named after the former chief minister and father of opposition leader in national assembly Maulana Fazalur Rehman, Maulana Mufti Mahmood.

Likewise, a school named after chief of Jamaat-e-Islami Qazi Hussain Ahmad with an estimated cost of Rs37 million was another project of the similar kind.

During the last fiscal year Rs2 million had been spent on the project being implemented at Nowshera, whereas allocation during the current fiscal year for the project was Rs35 million.

The former MMA government had also named a similar school after Jamaat-e-Islami provincial amir Sirajul

Haq, who served as senior minister in former Durrani-led cabinet.

The school, being established at his native Dir Lower District, had been allocated Rs20 million in current ADP.