PESHAWAR: A former lawmaker from North Waziristan Agency has claimed that about 41,000 displaced persons are awaiting registration and provision of ration at the IDP camps in Bannu district.

Addressing a news conference at the press club here on Monday, Aurangzeb Khan said that the concerned officials were reluctant to facilitate the Fata IDPs.

He said that some 15,000 people, who had errors in their computerised national identity cards, couldn’t get registered and thus failed to get rations and other facilities. “Of the affected people, some 200 families belong to Bannu district, who had been living in North Waziristan Agency for the past 30 40 years, but they were also not provided the relief,” he pointed out.

The former Fata lawmaker said that because of less number of registration points, displaced persons were facing problems in getting ration. “The IDPs have to wait for hours in long queues under the sizzling heat for getting relief,” he regretted.

The former MNA accused the government of not giving the same treatment to the displaced people of Fata as was given to the IDPs of Swat. “People of Swat were fully facilitated and rehabilitated within a specified timeframe, but the tribal people are totally ignored in this regard,” he said.

He stressed the need for the government to support the Fata students financially to help them continue their studies.

Mr Khan demanded early registration of the remaining displaced persons, as many of them were poor and had nothing to meet their daily needs.Mr Aurangzeb also accused the Fata Disaster Management Authority of failing to assist the displaced people of North Waziristan Agency.

Published in Dawn, Aug 12th, 2014