KOHAT: Provincial law minister Imtiaz Shahid Qureshi has said that 1,600 Insaf Sehat Cards will be given to the deserving people of his PK-39 constituency so they could get medical treatment at the best hospitals of the province.

He was addressing a public meeting after inaugurating Rs20.5 million Sodal road project. He asked elders of the area to suggest names of the poor sick people so they could avail of the health facility.

He also ordered survey of water supply schemes for all the villages of Sodal union council and upgradation of Doli Banda middle school.

Meanwhile, chairman of the standing committee of district council on agriculture, Mian Shah Raza, has demanded strict action against open sale of spurious pesticides.

In a statement on Wednesday, he claimed that despite repeated appeals to the district agriculture officer the sale of fake pesticides was continuing unchecked. He added that the officer did not take action against such stores which were selling fake pesticides to illiterate farmers.

He said that pesticides of fake brands could not protect crops from seasonal diseases.

ARRESTED: The police here have arrested 24 suspects in different areas of the district.

According to a statement issued by the DPO office here on Wednesday, two proclaimed offenders, identified as Rasool Shah of Merozai and Amtali Khan of Muslimabad, were also arrested.

The alleged drug peddlers rounded up from various areas included Khalid, Pervez, Ayaz, Shehzad, Naseem Gul, Farhad Ali, Shehzad, Iqbal Khan, and Umer Saleem.

In compliance with the ban imposed on private practice of lending money on interest an Afghan refugee Walayat Khan, Mekail Khan and Rashid Ali were rounded up from Hafizabad, Nakband and Minakhel areas, respectively.

One hand grenade, 11 Kalashnikovs, nine shotguns, 30 pistols, five rifles and 15 kilogrammes of hashish were also seized during these operations. The police have registered cases against the accused in respective police stations.

Published in Dawn, December 15th, 2016