PESHAWAR, Nov 21: The NWFP Governor Syed Iftikhar Hussain Shah has said the government has allocated Rs200 million for the Blambat Canal project, which would be constructed under the Drought Emergency Relief Assistance (DERA) programme.

Talking to MPAs-elect belonging to Upper and Lower Dir districts here on Thursday, he said that education and health sectors, followed by communication, have remained the priority sectors and a sufficient headway had been made during the last three years towards achieving the targets.

The delegation, led by MMA MPA-elect Sirajul Haq, also included the district Nazims of Upper and Lower Dir, Sahibzada Tariqullah and Alamzeb Khan, and MPA-elect from Buner district Bakht Jehan Khan.

On this occasion, the governor mentioned the decision to recruit 6,000 teachers and said: “Special policy measures have been taken to ensure recruitment of candidates from within the respective districts and, if suitable candidates within the district were not available, the candidates from the neighbouring district would be given preference.”

All such recruitments, he added, will be made on contract basis and they would have to return to their home district after the availability of qualified and trained candidates from within the respective districts.

This concession has been given to the districts of Dir Upper and Lower, Kohistan, Batagram and Shangla, keeping in view the prevailing situations in these backward areas, he said.

He also mentioned that the recruitment of 500 doctors had been completed in different health institutions.

He also said that the World Bank, impressed by the financial policies of the provincial government, had provided $90 million interest-free loan, to be continued with the same volume annually during the next two years subject to the continuity in policies.

Responding to a point raised on this occasion, the governor also disclosed that under the health policy, the District Headquarters Hospital of Upper and Low Dir as well as Shangla, Buner, Kohistan and Batagram districts were being upgraded and developed on a priority basis.

Similarly, he said, work on dualization of Mardan to Dargai section as well as improvement and upgradation of Chakdara-Timergara section of Nowshera-Chitral Road was already in progress.