CHITRAL: Village Nazims Forum, Drosh, chairman Imranul Mulk has alleged that the assistant director of Local Government and Rural Development Department (LGRD), Chitral, has been seeking a monthly of Rs3,000 from each of the village councils apart from commission in development works carried out by the councils and demanded of the government to take action against him.

Accompanied by other members of the forum, including Rahmat Khan, Waqar Ahmed, Kifayatullah and Mir Fayaz here on Friday, Mr Mulk told a press conference that Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf chairman Imran Khan should pay heed to the corruption in LGRD, Chitral.

He claimed that the assistant director being the principal accounting officer of all the village councils was extorting money from the village councils and nazims.

Mr Mulk said that the officer had sought Rs10,000 from each union council for paying the same to the members of the evaluation team of LGRD on the occasion of its visit to the district, but five nazims from Drosh did not pay the amount. He said that this infuriated the officer who had been withholding the tender process for the last four months.

“The officer demands money from village nazims, saying he has to pay the same to his senior officers,” he said, alleging that the officer blocked the bank accounts of the village councils whose nazims did not pay him the monthly.

He said that in other districts the tenders of projects were processed by village nazims, but in Chitral the assistant director had been controlling the process. Mr Mulk also demanded action against an assistant engineer of the department, alleging that he too was responsible for delaying development projects.

They threatened to launch a protest movement against the government if the two officers were not transferred from the district within a week.

Published in Dawn January 21st, 2017