BATTAGRAM: Chief Minister Mahmood Khan said here on Thursday that a new division would be set up with the name of “Abaseen” by bifurcating Hazara division.

Addressing a public meeting during his daylong visit to Battagram, he said that Zone-6 would be created in the province that would consist of few districts of Malakand and Hazara divisions. He said that notification to give status of district to Allai tehsil would also be issued after local bodies’ elections.

The chief minister inaugurated various development projects worth Rs210 million in the district.

He said that health and education were priorities of government and curative steps were being taken to improve those sectors. He said that work was in progress on upgradation and revamping of 35 district headquarters hospitals of the province.

The chief minister said that efforts were under way to overcome the shortage of doctors, paramedical staff and equipment in all the hospitals.

He said that new teachers were being recruited to overcome the shortage of teaching staff in schools. He added that Rs6 billion was allocated in the current budget for provision of new furniture to schools.

The chief minister said that government was striving to raise the standard of public sector schools to provide uniform learning facilities to all the students in the province.

He said that introducing uniform curriculum in the country was an extraordinary achievement of Prime Minister Imran Khan as it would help to eliminate class difference among students.

The chief minister said that “education card” project would soon be launched to provide financial assistance to talented and deserving students of the province by imparting free and quality higher education to them. He said that government was going all out to overcome recent wave of inflation and to give relief to people. He added that “Ehsaas food card” would be launched shortly.

He said that inflation was the result of flawed economic policies of previous rulers. He added that incumbent government paid $21 billion as interest on the loans borrowed by the previous rulers.

The chief minister said that Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari held public gathering in Peshawar the other day but he could not gather even 3,000 people from all over the country.

He said that people of Sindh did not have even clean drinking water and its chief minister was holding public gathering in Peshawar.

He said that people of the province had expressed their full confidence in PTI during the general elections of 2013 and 2018. He added that people would stand by PTI in the next general elections.

Published in Dawn, December 3rd, 2021