RAWALPINDI: As many as 564 wards from 98 union councils of seven tehsils in the Rawalpindi district have been cleaned under the Khadim-i-Aala Punjab Saaf Dehat Programme, a meeting called to review the progress of the programme on Friday was told.

The meeting was attended by Deputy Commissioner Rawalpindi Talat Mehmood Gondal, Additional Commissioner Coordination Tariq Salam Marwat, Deputy Director Development Saima Ghafoor, Director Local Government Ikhlaq Warraich, local government officers from Jhelum and Attock and other concerned officials.

DC Gondal said phase-I of the project was completed by Dec 20, 2017 and that phase-II was completed by Jan 31. According to the Urban Unit Dashboard Ranking, Rawalpindi stood at fourth place in phase-I and in fifth place in phase-II. The DC said a total of 5,027 sites were cleared and that local counsellors were taken on board and the project was conducted with their input.

Speaking on the occasion, Secretary Human Rights Asim Iqbal said the program was started in order to offer cleanliness services in the rural areas.

“Such a program for rural areas is the first of its kind in the history of Pakistan. However, it cannot be maintained through government initiatives only and there is need for involving the local community in it,” he said.

Published in Dawn, February 10th, 2018