PESHAWAR
Caretaker Chief Minister Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Muhammad Azam Khan was called on by a 13-member delegation of Tehsil chairmen from newly merged districts to apprise him of the issues being faced by local governments in merged districts.
Besides, provincial caretaker ministers Hamid Shah and Manzoor Afridi, Secretary Local government Aamir Afaq were also present in the meeting.
The delegation informed the chief minister about the issues being faced by local representatives which include unavailability of offices and other basic facilities for tehsil chairmen, shortage of Tehsil Municipal officers and other staff in merged districts.
The delegates said that due to lack of staff in tehsil municipal administrations, the office work of local governments is suffering, adding that local governments staff are also facing the issue of non-payment of salaries.
The tehsil chairmen requested the Chief Minister for provision of operational grants to TMAs of merged districts to make them sustainable as they are financially weak.
The chief minister directed the concerned authorities to take concrete steps for immediate resolution of the basic issues being faced by the tehsil governments in merged districts and said that all the required staff including Tehsil Municipal officers be posted to TMAs in merged districts.
He also directed the quarters concerned to make arrangements for the offices of local government representatives in merged districts. Talking to the delegation, the chief minister said that resolution of public issues of tribal people is one of the top most priorities of caretaker government adding that every Thursday has been reserved for tribal people to directly listen to their problems and take steps for their immediate resolution.
Muhammad Azam Khan said that the caretaker government is going all out to get the due rights of the province, particularly newly merged districts. ‘The province is going through financial crunches as the situation gets better, merged districts will be funded on priority to address their long-standing deprivations,” he concluded.
