ISLAMABAD, Sept 7: Terrorism cannot be eliminated from Pakistan, even with the deployment of the whole army on the western borders, unless the government initiates sincere political , social and economic reforms in Fata and brings it into mainstream through eradicating poverty and providing jobs to the tribals.

These views were expressed by the speakers at a two-day national seminar on "Tribal Areas of Pakistan, Challenges and Responses", organized by the Islamabad Policy Research Institute (Ipri) in collaboration with Hanns Seidel Foundation, Munich, here on Tuesday.

A large number of scholars, political experts, civil society representatives and retired civil servants, most of whom had served in Fata, were present on the occasion. NWFP Governor Lt-Gen (retired) Syed Iftikhar Hussain Shah, in his keynote speech, said the government confronted multiple challenges in the development of the poverty-stricken Fata.

He said establishment of the writ of the government in the inaccessible areas, and reduction of poverty in Fata where 60 per cent people lived below poverty line were the main challenges.

Other uphill tasks included creation of employment opportunities for the locals who faced adverse impact of migrant Afghan nationals, improving law and order situation which had deteriorated due to events on the border, improving literacy rate, establishing dependable communication system, enhancing institutional capacities, and controlling environmental degradation, the governor said.

The government had formulated a "multi-dimensional" development package for meeting these challenges through political reforms and improved governance by introducing devolution system.

The government also laid emphasis on poverty reduction, participatory development and gender issues, rapid scaling of investment in social sector and reorganizing the law-enforcement agencies in the area, he said.

Mr Shah said the government had increased budgetary allocation for Fata from about Rs1 billion in 2000-2001 to almost Rs6 billion in the current financial year to ensure economic development. Besides, donor agencies will be contributing an additional sum of Rs1.78 billion for various projects, he said.

"In the social sector, the big challenge in Fata is the improvement of the dismal literacy rate which is 29 per cent for men and only three per cent for women, compared to 56 per cent and 33 per cent for males and females, respectively, in the country," he said.

The old levies and Khassadars system will be replaced in the next few years by regular force, which will operate on the principle of direct policing rather than the indirect system currently in vogue. He said he had also proposed to the federal government some changes in the Frontier Crimes Regulation, 1901, which "had been termed by people as a draconian law".