SHANGLA: Elders and representatives of local government said during an orientation workshop on Saturday that dispute resolution councils (DRCs) had been resolving local disputes faster than regular courts in Shangla district.

The one-day workshop was organised by Sarhad Rural Support Programme (SRSP) at Alpuri Press Club. District police officer Rahatullah Khan, members of the district bar council, local councillors, members of DRCs and representative of local support organisations attended the workshop.

Speaking on the occasion, Mr Rahatullah said that DRCs had been playing an important role in resolving issues of common people.

Representatives of the local government and civil society showed their commitment to make DRCs of the district a model for other districts by highlighting their voluntary efforts in resolving petty nature issues.

Addressing the participants, DRCs secretary Bahruddin said that the DRCs were based at the police stations of Alpuri, Bisham and Aloch. He said that DRCs had so far received a total of 199 cases of different nature like property disputes, right of way and police harassment. Of these, 190 cases have been resolved, he added.

Shah Fawad advocate praised the efforts of DRCs for resolving petty nature issues among the local people. He said that formal judicial system was complex in nature, expensive and overburdened, due to which a common man faced hurdles in getting relief. He said that DRCs were now protected by law and accessible to the people.

SRSP representative Pir Aamirullah briefed the participants about the importance of DRCs in providing speedy justice to the people.

Published in Dawn, January 1st, 2017