ABBOTTABAD, July 14: NWFP Governor Syed Iftikhar Hussain Shah has said the Madaris Ordinance is meant to register seminaries on the pattern of other conventional educational institutions of the country.

Though the government had put forward certain proposals to improve the syllabus of Madaris as well as their working atmosphere, it was also at the discretion of their respective managements to follow them or not, he said.

The decision of the government in this connection was neither to ban the establishment of new Madaris nor to force them to adopt a particular syllabus, he stated while speaking at a public meeting at Nathiagali here on Sunday.

Abbottabad District Nazim Ghulam Mustafa Khan and Naib Nazim Barrister Javed Abbassi also spoke on the occasion.

The governor also mentioned the proposed constitutional package as well as graduation condition for the expected members of the legislative institutions, saying that the certain so-called politicians were opposing this decision to fulfil their personal interest.

There was a condition of education for the recruitment of an employee of lowest level in the government’s machinery whereas members of the highest legislative forums, who were supposed to decide about the fate of the nation, desired to be oblivious of this requirement, he remarked.

In fact, the governor said, such elements were only interested in reviving the past culture of commission and percentage from the funds meant for the uplift schemes by opposing the graduation condition.

The governor condemned the recent terrorist incidents, saying that the elements involved in such heinous crimes were neither sincere to the cause of the Muslims nor had any interest in the well being and betterment of the people and the country.  

About the foreign tourists, who were targeted in Mansehra on Saturday, he said the incident had no link to the situation in Afghanistan or elsewhere.

“The criminals are out to defame Pakistan at the international level,” he remarked.

Syed Iftikhar Hussain Shah disclosed that the provincial government was considering to construct a small dam on Nadi Dorr to generate electricity and meet the water requirements of the residents of Abbottabad, besides promoting tourism in the area.

He also announced the establishment of a degree college at Nathiagali and upgradation of two existing girls secondary schools to the higher secondary level in Gilyat.

He also declared to include the local hospital into the D-degree-level health units under which its capacity would be enhanced from the existing 10 beds to 25. Besides, he said, the government was also recruiting 650 new doctors, including 250 specialists, to meet the staff shortage in the hospitals.

He also informed the audience that the Nathiagali Water Supply Scheme, costing Rs42.602 million, was at the completion stage. This plan would be sufficient to meet the water requirements for the next 30 years, he said.