FDMA needs Rs2.5bn for displaced persons

Published July 24, 2014
The Nadra has verified 52,988 of the 92,702 registered displaced families from the volatile North Waziristan.— File photo
The Nadra has verified 52,988 of the 92,702 registered displaced families from the volatile North Waziristan.— File photo

PESHAWAR: The Fata Disaster Management Authority needs around Rs2.6 billion for providing cash and relief goods to the internally displaced persons of North Waziristan Agency, say the relevant officials.

According to the officials, the FDMA has requested the federal state and frontier region (Safron) ministry to release Rs2.59 billion to pay cash and offer relief goods and basic facilities of life, including health services, to IDPs during August and September.

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They told Dawn on Wednesday that the federal government would pay Rs12,000 to the head of every displaced family, while the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab governments would pay Rs8,000 and Rs7,000 respectively to every family okayed by the National Database and Registration Authority (Nadra) from the next month.

The official said the payment of cash would continue for next six months.


Safron ministry asked for money to provide IDPs with cash, relief goods in August, September


The Nadra has verified 52,988 of the 92,702 registered displaced families from the volatile North Waziristan.

According to the FDMA, the Nadra has rejected 37,053 cases either for duplication, for invalid number of computerised national identity cards or for unavailability of CNIC.

However, Nasir Ali Khan Wazir, head of the 65-member committee for IDPs, insisted hundreds of cases of deserving families were rejected due to unavailability of CNICs or other minor reasons.

“A large number of widows and orphans don’t have CNICs, so they’re not registered,” he said.

Wazir said heads of some displaced families were in the Middle East but members of their families had not been registered.

He said a committee dealing with the problems of IDPs families recently took up the matter with the Bannu commissioner, who promised a mechanism would be developed for the registration of widows, orphans and the families, whose heads were abroad.

Wazir said around 400 widows and the special persons, who didn’t have CNICs, had registered their names with the committee.

Meanwhile, the officials insisted disbursement of cash among IDPs had been streamlined and that a major cellular company engaged for the purpose had sent SMS to heads of 39,055 families by Tuesday evening.

They said 22,941 displaced families had drawn money using special SIM cards given to them by the FDMA.

The FDMA had signed an agreement with a cellphone company for electronic disbursement of cash to IDPs.

The authority has transferred over Rs1.4 billion to the company’s account for the purpose.

An official said the money had been deposited in the Askari Bank.

The deputy commissioner of Bannu has distributed cash among IDPs.

The federal government had earlier released Rs2 billion to the FDMA for payment of cash to IDPs, provision of relief goods, and emergency work.

In addition, the FDMA released around Rs23 million to the engineers division for provision and improvement of the IDPs’ camp in Bakakhe area.

PLAN FOR DISPLACED STUDENTS: The Fata directorate of education has made a plan to help displaced students of North Waziristan continue with their studies during displacement.

The plan was discussed during a meeting held at the office of the Bannu district education officer.

Fata director (education) Roz Wali Khan chaired the meeting.

According to a handout issued here, the participants decided that the students displaced from North Waziristan due to anti-militants crackdown would be adjusted in schools and colleges of the province in general and those of Bannu and Lakki districts in particular.

They also decided that the Fata director (education) would contact the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa director (elementary and secondary education) and director (higher education) to ensure that principals, headmasters, head teachers of all schools in the province allow registered displaced students to attend classes on their respective premises until they returned home.

The participants said if the required space or structure was not available in Bannu and Lakki districts, the FDMA and donor agencies would be contacted for provision of tents.

They said the Fata director (education) would ensure the provision of additional teachers where the need arose, while the focal person of the directorate in Bannu would facilitate displaced students and teachers from North Waziristan.

The participants agreed that the DEOs of Bannu and Lakki would begin second shift for displaced students at overcrowded schools.

Published in Dawn, July 24th, 2014

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