CHITRAL: In a business conference organised by the Chitral Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the opportunities available in Chitral for expanding industry and trade, manpower and the challenges standing in the way were examined in detail.

It was emphasised that there was a need to bring forward youth who were in tune with the requirements of the modern era and to encourage and guide them.

Addressing the occasion as chief, the Lower Chitral DC Muhammad Hashim Azim said that by bringing youth forward, they could achieve the desired goals in the business arena, while there was no shortage of talent in Chitral.

Announcing the district administration’s youth development programme called ‘Rising Chitral’, he said that educated youth selected on the basis of merit would be given four-month training in various modern skills, after which they would be able to earn online from their homes, which would include web and graphic designing and other useful modules.

He said that under the ‘Rising Chitral’, sports opportunities would also be created for the youth so that they could fully exploit their potential and talent.

Earlier, president of the Chitral Chamber of Commerce and Industry Haji Mehboob Azam, said that efforts were underway to attract youth towards businesses and make them job creators.

He thanked the district administration, including all other institutions and civil society for extending support to the business community in Chitral in creating jobs for the youth.

In his address, Sartaj Ahmed Khan, the founding president of the chamber of commerce, mentioned five different sources and opportunities for promoting business in Chitral and said that if these opportunities were fully exploited, including the resumption of Pak-Afghan trade, prosperity was bound to come to the region.

On this occasion, the principal of Government Commerce College Chitral, Sahibuddin,and others also shed light on the topic. Several youth were also given youth excellence awards by the chamber for successfully establishing businesses in various fields.

TMA EMPLOYEES STRIKE: The employees of the Tehsil Municipal Administration (TMA) Chitral went on strike in favour of their demand for payment of salaries to the TMA staff through the Account-IV of the treasury department, and announced a protest in front of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provincial assembly if their demand was not accepted.

The president of TMA workers’ union, SaifUl Azam, said that under the current system, the TMA employees across the province had been facing financial problems due to non-payment of salaries on time, as the solution lied in the payment of salaries to the employees through Account- IV like the other government departments.

Expressing full confidence in the leadership of the union’s provincial president Haji Anwar Kamal Marwat and general secretary Salman Hoti, he said that the employees of TMA Chitral would wait for the call of the provincial leadership for the next phase of the protest, and they would not hesitate to make any sacrifice.

Published in Dawn, August 15th, 2025