TIMERGARA: Jamaat-i-Islami chief Sirajul Haq on Saturday said his party would double the education budget if given the chance to rule the country.

He was addressing the morning assembly at government higher secondary school, Samarbagh, from where he had got education.

The JI chief said all parents were not wealthy enough to get their children educated at private institutions, adding the rulers had destroyed education system as they failed to allocate healthy budgets for the sector.

He said the JI would increase the budget for education from two per cent to five per cent if came to power, adding the party wanted to introduce a uniform syllabus at schools and end the class-based education system.

He said the province had great potential in the sectors of hydropower, tourism, minerals and forestry, and believed that the government could get rid of IMF and World Bank if it invested in these sectors.

The JI chief demanded of the federal government to pay KP its due share in net hydel profit so more development projects could be initiated in the province.

SPECIAL PERSONS DAY: The International Day of Persons with Disability was also observed in Lower Dir wherein NGOs arranged special functions and distributed wheelchairs among the physically challenged persons, particularly children.

The Armaghan Rehabilitation Centre arranged a function at Nasafa Talash, and distributed wheelchairs, hearing equipment, glasses and white sticks among 50 physically challenged persons. The Umma Welfare Trust had provided the equipment.

Speakers on the occasion said the day was aimed at raising awareness among people to take extra care of PWDs.

Also in the day, the Al-Khidmat Foundation distributed wheelchairs among 100 special persons during a function held at the Timergara Rest House to mark the day.

Published in Dawn, December 4th, 2016