KOHAT, Aug 15: NWFP Chief Minister Akram Khan Durrani has said that the US government has promised millions of dollars in grant for the education sector, especially for improving quality of teaching in the province.

Inaugurating construction of the Iftikhar Library at the Kohat University of Science and Technology (Kust) here on Monday, he said the US government had also agreed to sponsor students for higher studies every year.

The chief minister said that establishment of universities at divisional level and schools and colleges in different parts of the province was a proof that his government was committed to weeding out illiteracy.

He said a university had been approved for Havelian and added that work on the project would start soon. Pakistan, he said, needed agriculture scientists because agriculture was the backbone of its economy.

Giving details of the steps taken to boost agriculture and industry sectors in the province, Mr Durrani said the government had exempted orchards up to kanal from taxes and announced many incentives for industrialists.

He said that Azakhel Park had been allotted to the Peshawar University for setting up of a botanical garden and added that special sections would be created there for plants and birds whose names had been mentioned in the Holy Quran.

He said three cancer hospitals and one cardiology centre were being established in the province where poor patients would be provided free treatment.

Responding to the demands put forward by the vice chancellor of the Kohat University of Science and Technology, the chief minister ordered attaching the district headquarters and Liaquat Memorial Hospital to the university. He directed the health ministry to process the case within two days.

He sought one week for the allotment to the university of a disputed piece of land which was creating hurdle in the construction of various blocks.

The chief minister then launched the monsoon tree plantation by planting a sapling in the Kust garden.