CHITRAL: A project was launched here on Wednesday to build political capacity of women councillors. The project has been initiated by LEAD-Pakistan with the financial assistance of USAID.

Speaking at the opening ceremony, district coordinator of LEAD-Pakistan Shujaat Ali and project director Azhar Qureshi said the programme was aimed at imparting training to the women councillors to strengthen them politically.

They said on the basis of a baseline survey conducted by the organisation, the needs of women councillors had been assessed while training modules were being formulated accordingly.

On the occasion, additional deputy commissioner Minhasuddin said the local bodies had the unique characteristic of devolving powers to the lowest level divided into three tiers and there was a need for effective and cohesive linkages between them.

He said a member of village council, the lowest rung of the system, enjoyed the same powers which were previously vested in an assistant commissioner.

Minhasuddin said women councillors had a crucial and well-defined role and responsibility in the system and their vitality increased manifold in Chitral keeping in view its backwardness and specific location.

He also urged the village nazims and general councillors to extend all out support to their women counterparts and lend them more development funds than their share of five per cent.

Women councillors also spoke on the occasion and described their allocated share of five per cent as peanuts which could not fulfill their needs.

ACTION AGAINST POLICE DEMANDED: Pir Mohammad Amin, a resident of Bela Shehsi Koh, has demanded of the provincial police chief to take action against officials of local police post for siding with his opponent involved in setting his house on fire in May.

In a statement on Wednesday, he said his opponent, Wazir-i-Aala, and his sons had been subjecting his family to torture for last two years over a disputed piece of land and allegedly set his house on fire in May, but the police refused to register case against them. He said he had approached the police high ups in the district urging them to book the culprits but he was being intimated by the personnel at the Sheshi Koh police post.

Published in Dawn, August 17th, 2017