MANSEHRA: Federal Minister for Religious Affairs Sardar Mohammad Yousuf inaugurated the first degree college for girls in Balakot tehsil here the other day and asked the parents to send their daughters to the college for their better future.

“I am optimistic that this college would bring revolutionary changes in the life of womenfolk of Balakot tehsil,” said Mr Yousuf while speaking at the inaugural ceremony of the college in Hassan area of Balakot. Besides others, MPA Ziaur Rehman also spoke on the occasion.

The Earthquake Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Authority (Erra) has constructed the college building with an estimated cost of Rs71 million.

The minister said that the government would ensure provision of talented faculty at the college. “If you want real prosperity and betterment of your family and daughters then educate them,” he said.

Minister asks parents to send daughters to the college

Mr Yousuf said that reconstruction of around 200 schools destroyed in the 2005 earthquake was in progress in the affected districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

He said that the federal government had sanctioned funds for the reconstruction of 1,000 schools in the quake-affected areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Azad Kashmir.

FIVE ARRESTED: The anti-corruption establishment (ACE), Mansehra, has arrested five suspects, including two officials of the forest department, and completed inspection of development schemes in which funds have been embezzled.

“We have arrested two officials of the forest department and three other persons who illegally cut the forest and smuggled the timber to other parts of the country through fake permits,” said Mohammad Sohail, the circle head of ACE, while speaking to mediapersons on Friday.

He said that forester of Battal forest range Mohammad Rustam and forest guard Mohammad Haroon and three alleged timber smugglers, including Mohammad Khushal, Noor Zaman and Peer Zaman, had been arrested.

He said that the forest officials were hand in glove with smugglers and they had made a legal permit for transportation of timber and then used it again and again through tampering.

“The accused have smuggled a large quantity of illegally cut timber from Battle forest range to other parts of the country,” said Mr Sohail.

He said that a technical team of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa ACE, headed by a director, had recently found embezzlement of Rs10 million in Zafar Park beatification scheme, Rs 0.6 million in Pakhwal road and Rs 0.7 million in press club projects.

ACTION DEMANDED: The people of Torghar have demanded of the government to take action against all those who got jobs in government departments in the district by submitting bogus domicile and other documents.

A group of local people, led by Farmanullah, told mediapersons in Oghi the other day that a large number of people from other districts had got jobs in government departments on fake documents.

Mr Farmanullah demanded a thorough scrutiny of documents of the employees of government departments in the district.

Published in Dawn, January 24th, 2015

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