A delegation of eight tribal elders belonging to Bara sub-division of Khyber Agency called on the NWFP Governor Lieutenant General Syed Iftikhar Hussain Shah (Retd) here at the Governor's House on Tuesday morning.
The delegation, headed by former Federal Minister Malik Waris Khan Afridi and represented by Malik din Khel, Aka Khel, Qambar Khel and Sipah clans apprised the Governor of the development requirements of their respective areas.
Talking to the delegation, the Governor said the government was planning to undertake income-generating projects in the Federally Administered Tribal Area (Fata) to enhance job opportunities and overcome the problem of unemployment.
The Fata development budget, he said, had witnessed an unprecedented increase in the recent years, which would certainly help in removing the backwardness of those areas.
On a point, the Governor said that road network was imperative for the basic social development and urged the elders to co-operate the government in construction of new and improvement of existing roads particularly in the recently opened area of Tirah.
He assured the delegation that the government would fulfill all other development requirements of the people of the area if once the road network were completed.
The Governor said the policy with regard to identification and initiation of new development projects had altogether been changed, doing away with the previous policy of " granting development schemes to influential", rather he added now we first ascertain the development requirements of particular community and then identify and approve projects.
That policy, he said, was based on merit and justification ensuring justice to all.
Similarly, the Governor said, we had also decided to purchase land for development schemes rather than the old process of acquiring free of cost land from local elders for such schemes, which given on return would create opportunity of class four employment in the so initiated schemes.
The Governor said that Rs 570 million were being spent on development in Khyber Agency that year, and urged the tribal elders to identify the areas where developments in their respective localities were needed.
Members of the delegation also appreciated the Prime Minister's recent announcement regarding one billion increases in the Fata annual development outlay and termed it an unprecedented step which they said would certainly go a long way in the overall socio-economic uplift of tribal area.
They were of the view that substantial development had taken place in the Fata during the past three years and the entire credits of those unprecedented achievements go to the Governor.