PESHAWAR: Speakers at a seminar on Tuesday asked for holding early elections to the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly in the tribal districts in order to end sense of deprivation among the people.

The seminar was organised by the Centre for Governance and Public Accountability, according to a statement. Titled ‘Implementation of 25th Constitutional Amendment: Legal and Institutional Setup in Newly Merged Districts in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’, the seminar recommended holding provincial assembly elections in the newly-merged districts, establishing judicial setup, holding local government elections, and introduction of new NFC award for allocation of more resources to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Speaking on the occasion, Prof Sarfraz Khan said the 25th Constitutional Amendment was a welcome move but at the same time feared that if social service delivery and justice system were not improved, the people of the tribal districts might resort to protests as seen in the past.

He also urged the federal government to give all pending amounts in hydro royalty to the province and the promised Rs100 billion for development of tribal districts to bring them on a par with rest of the country.

Hanif Orakzai, chief information commissioner KP, shared his plan on extending KP RTI law to Malakand division first as these areas were now under the direct jurisdiction of the KP assembly.

He hoped that the new developments would certainly put the region on the track to progress and prosperity.

Published in Dawn, August 1st, 2018