March 30, 2008	Sunday	Rabi-ul-Awwal 21, 1429

PESHAWAR, March 29: The federal government has approved a Rs185 million compensation package for those affected by the Swat military operation.

The provincial government has transferred to the District Coordination Officer Rs115 million for distribution among heirs of the deceased and injured people.

Addressing a press conference here on Saturday, caretaker Chief Minister Shamsul Mulk said the District Coordination Officer of Swat would disburse the amount among the families affected during the four-month-long military operation.

He said that apart from Rs115 million, an instalment of Rs70 million was in the pipeline that would be distributed among those people whose property had been destroyed or damaged in the operation.

The DCO has been directed to assess the damage and losses incurred to the private property following which compensation would be made to actual owners or affected people, he said.

NWFP Chief Secretary Sahibzada Riaz Noor said that about 69 deaths, including 50 of civilians and 19 police, had been reported in the operation.

The number of the injured is 133, including 91 civilians and 42 policemen.

Of the civilian deaths, 39 occurred in Swat and 11 in Shangla district.

The number of the injured in the two districts remained 68 and 23, respectively.

He said that compensation for each death would be Rs300,000 while the amount for each injured had been fixed at Rs100,000.

The caretaker chief minister said the Pakistan Army had been called in to contain the violence that had engulfed the scenic valley. Now the army has achieved its task and the provincial government will handle the rest.

He said the provincial government was facing one of the worst financial crises mainly because of lower than budgeted transfer of receipts from the federal government that had enlarged the fiscal deficit.

He said that apart from resource constraints the provincial government spending on security had also witnessed a significant increase during last couple of months that also caused imbalances in revenue receipts and expenditures.

“We are in a state of war and we need extraordinary spending on security,” explained the chief minister.