PESHAWAR, Jan 25: The Mansehra District Government and six major political parties of the district have demanded a bigger role for the district government in rehabilitation of quake-affected areas. The demand was made at the second training workshop entitled “Political Party Capacity Building Programme” which was organised by the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs (NDI) in collaboration with the Sungi Development Foundation on Wednesday.

The program is going on in ten districts with the support of British Government’s Department for International Development (DFID). In its third phase similar workshops will be organised in Mansehra, Nowshera, Rawalpindi and Faisalabad districts.

Around 45 activists, including 13 women, belonging to six major political parties of the district attended the workshop. Brian Heading, a councillor from Belfast City Council, Northern Ireland, and Jami Chandio served as trainers. The topics discussed included Developing Party Messages, Media Profile, Communications, Event Organisation and Constituency Outreach at Local Level.

Naib Nazim District Mansehra Mufti Kifayatullah, who was guest speaker, said the the District Council of Mansehra was the proper forum to take decisions in respect of reconstruction, relief and rehabilitation. He asserted that neither the federal or the provincial government nor the Earthquake Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Authority (Erra) had any role to play in this regard.