BAJAUR: Residents on Sunday decried the closure of the Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) centre in Salarzai tehsil and called for its reopening as soon as possible.

Speaking to reporters here, Ajab Khan, Nawaz Khan, Abdul Qayyum Khan and others asked the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa governor, BISP chairperson and Bajaur deputy commissioner to ensure the facility reopens soon.

They said that the centre was established a couple of years ago to facilitate BISP beneficiaries. However, they said that the authorities closed the centre a few days ago without citing any reason.

They maintained that the abrupt closure of the BISP centre, which was the only such facility in the entire Salarzai tehsil, had affected the local people, particularly women.

Mohammad Hayan Khan, an elder, noted that after the closure of the centre, poor women, the elderly and the disabled, were forced to visit the Khar centre to collect their amounts.

Meanwhile, a source in the BISP office in Khar told this correspondent that the Salarzai facility, which was closed on the directives of the programme’s senior officials a few days ago, would reopen soon.

POLIO DRIVE: Police on Sunday finalised security measures for a five-day anti-polio drive in Bajaur to be launched from Monday (today).

According to a police statement, arrangements for the safety and security of polio teams were finalised during a meeting held with SP Investigations Ajmal Khan in the chair.

The meeting, also attended by focal persons for the anti-polio drive, reviewed the security plan for the campaign.

The meeting was informed that about 1,600 police personnel would be deployed with polio teams across the district to ensure that the drive is conducted in a peaceful environment.

The meeting identified a number of areas and places as “sensitive” for the polio drive where strict security measures would be put in place to thwart any untoward incident involving polio workers.

According to the health department, about 280,000 children up to five years of age would be administered polio drops during the drive.

An official told Dawn on Sunday that more than 1,800 workers were taking part in the campaign under strict security measures.

Published in Dawn, November 2nd, 2026