MARDAN, July 13 The repatriation of internally displaced persons from the relief camps in Mardan and Swabi will start from Tuesday.

The government has set up four official relief camps -- Sheikh Shehzad, Sheikh Yasin, Jalala and Mazdurabad -- in Mardan, where some 5,000 families comprising 30,000 persons are staying.

Mardan Commissioner Khalid Khan Umarzai said on Monday that leaves of government employees had been cancelled and they were asked to stay present in the camps to help the return of the IDPs to their hometowns.

TOBACCO DEALERS The Tobacco Dealers Association (TDA) has criticised the imposition of tobacco cess, saying they will resist it at any cost.

The provincial government has imposed tobacco cess in the province while the dealers are also paying tax in the name of central excise duty to the government, which is 72 per cent.

In this connection a meeting of the TDA was held here with its president Iftikhar Ahmed Khan in the chair. The meeting was also attended by Yaqub Khan, Zakir Khan, Fazal Rehman and Nasirud Din Bakhsahlvi. The meeting unanimously rejected the cess and warned if the contractors tried to receive it they would be resisted at any cost. — Correspondent