PESHAWAR, May 29: The NWFP Assembly on Thursday unanimously demanded of the federal government to establish passport offices in each district of the province.

The house unanimously adopted a resolution presented by Fareed Khan from Upper Dir district where the federal government had not yet established a passport office.

The session, presided over by Speaker Bakht Jahan Khan, made a lengthy discussion on the hardships of the people in seeking  out passports in their home districts.

Earlier, the House admitted an adjournment motion  tabled by Amirzada Khan against the appointment criteria of the teaching staff at girls primary schools in his area. Mr Khan informed the House that a girls primary school located near his residence,  had been closed six month ago for shortage of women teachers.

He said except two local female teachers all others  stationed at the 14 primary schools were non-residents. The government used to appoint matriculation passed as teachers in primary schools but NWFP governor had made the intermediate as pre-requisite  for the appointment, he added.

He urged the House to revise the governor’s executive order as it had become source of problem rather than solution of the issue. This pre-requisite had closed all doors of employment on women, he observed.

Endorsing the motion, Mr Nadir Shah said matriculation was a sort of a great deed in areas where the people did not have education facilities. He urged the House to repeal the governor’s order and induct matriculation passed as teachers.

Mr Abdullah  Bangash from Hangu said his area faced the similar problem and demanded annulment of earlier order.

Maulana Ismatullah from Kohistan said that nobody was  willing to serve in his district. “We have no college in the entire  district. The  women teachers prefer to get themselves transferred out  of Kohistan,” he added. The House admitted the motion for discussion.

During the question-answer hour, minister for local government Sardar  Idrees dispelled the impression that the funds  allocated under the Tameer-i-Sarhad Programme would lapse if not  used by the closing of June. He assured the House that these funds had been given to the district development committees (DDC) headed by the district co-ordination officers. He denied that the  district governments would utilize the funds.

He said the Abbottabad district government had planned to construct two small dams, one at the Haro to supply drinking water to  Abbottabad and the other at Rajoyya near Havelian,  with the assistance of Japan and the federal government. He said Japan would  provide Rs 1.20 billion loan and federal government  would provide Rs 300 million for this purpose.

Opposing the proposed dam on river Dor at Haro, Qazi  Mohammad Asad said the people of Haripur would not accept this project  as it was against their collective interest. He warned that this dam would turn their irrigated lands in Haripur into the wastelands.

According to an Irrigation Accord, 1905, landlords and farmers of Haripur had been provided protection of their  irrigation rights being on the tail of river, Mr Asad said.

Sardar Idrees advised the MPAs from Haripur and Abbottabad  to sort it out between themselves through negotiations. Mr Mushtaq Ahmed Ghani  endorsed Qazi Asad’s stand and said they would resolve  it on their own.

The house unanimously condemned the high-handedness of  police against the photographers and reporters outside Punjab assembly  on Wednesday. Speaking on a point of order Maulana Ismatullah lashed out at the violent attitude of the police towards reporters and photographers covering the arrest of MPAs.

Earlier, reporters and photographers at press gallery staged a  token  boycott of the assembly proceedings to  register  their protest  against the Punjab police attitude against the  reporters and photographers in Lahore and expressed their solidarity  with them.

The house did not entertain four resolutions about  reservation of medical seats for students of Kala Dhaka in medical  colleges, attaching price tags on flour bags and edible oil  canisters, lifting of ban on fresh appointments and wooden quota for  people of Dir and Chitral tabled by Zar Gul Khan, Maulana Amanullah, Pir Mohammad Khan and Dr Zakirullah Khan, respectively.