PESHAWAR, Oct 1: Governor Syed Iftikhar Hussain Shah on Wednesday said the distribution of funds had been rationalized to ensure judicious use of resources for speedy and balanced development of tribal areas.

He was speaking at a meeting with the Fata parliamentarians and political agents here, according to a handout.

The governor assured them that needs and requirements of all the tribal areas would be kept in mind in accordance with the development strategy.

The meeting reviewed the ongoing uplift process in Fata and also discussed ways and means to coordinate the development requirements and schemes for different areas.   

The Fata parliamentarians highlighted the development needs of their respective constituencies.

The governor assured that the government had allocated resources judiciously on the basis of population and area and referred to the increase in the Fata annual development programme, which was brought to Rs3 billion.

Referring to the ongoing uplift process, he mentioned that the governor’s Fata secretariat had exclusively dealt with the tribal agencies’ affairs.

PTCL: Meanwhile, the governor has directed the PTCL authorities to link the far-flung and remote tribal areas with its communication network and urged them to ensure completion of all the projects prepared in this connection in the shortest possible time.

He was speaking during a presentation given to him here on Wednesday by the PTCL on its annual development programme for Fata.

The governor also directed the PTCL to make operational telephone exchanges in certain pockets of Fata, which awaited installation of machinery and equipment.