SWAT: Chief Minister Mahmood Khan said here on Wednesday that his government was taking steps for uniform development of all districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa unlike former chief ministers who focused only on their respective districts.

He was addressing the foundation stone laying ceremony of the engineering university and paediatrics hospital in Kabal tehsil.

Federal Minister for Communications Murad Saeed, special assistant to CM for higher education department Kamran Bangash and MPAs and MNAs from Swat district were also in attendance.

The chief minister said that Imran Khan showed the best performance as a prime minister so far and delivered for the country as well as for the public.

Lays foundation of engineering varsity, hospital in Swat

He termed Imran Khan’s policies on international issues wise and said he would change the fate of the country. “Imran Khan’s position on the issue of Afghanistan proved to be 100 per cent correct,” he said.

Criticising Pakistan Democratic Movement, he said a ‘gang of rejected and unemployed politicians’ was talking about overthrowing the government. He said that in 2023 the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf would again come into power in the country.

The chief minister said several mega development projects were underway across Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. He said successful merger of former Fata with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa was the landmark achievement of the provincial government.

“The people of Swat are thankful to PM Imran Khan who honoured Swat for the first time by selecting chief minister from the district,” he said.

The chief minister said over Rs12 billion project had been approved to resolve the longstanding issue of drinking water in Mingora.

He said that regular classes would be started in the engineering university of Swat from June 2023. “Initially, the university will have departments of civil engineering, hydropower engineering, biomedical engineering and computer systems engineering,” he said, adding that in addition to the Climate Change Centre, the Institute of Manufacturing would also be established in the university.

He said the project of 300-bed Paeds Hospital would be completed in June 2024. The project also included a doctors’ hostel, nursing hostel, and other necessary infrastructure.

Earlier, federal minister Murad Saeed said the PTI government took revolutionary steps for the uplift of communities in the health, education and other sectors.

“The PTI government eliminated the difference between rich and poor as with the issuance of Sehat Sahulat Programme everyone can get health facilities both in private and public sector hospitals,” he said.

He said the previous government had passed the income tax ordinance after which income tax was to be implemented in Malakand division, but the PTI government withdrew it.

“We have also resolved the longstanding issue of power outages and low voltage in Swat,” he claimed and said new grid stations were approved for Matta and Kabal tehsils.

He said that work on the construction of the second phase of the Swat Motorway would soon be started. During their visit, Mahmood Khan and Murad Saeed also laid the foundation stone of Rescue 1122 office in Kabal tehsil.

Published in Dawn, September 2nd, 2021