- Announces increase in assistance per IDP family by Rs 20,000 from Rs 12,000, each family will also get special allowance of Rs 20,000 for Ramadan
- Says homes destroyed during Operation Zarb-e-Azb would be constructed soon along with new schools, hospitals and roads
- Number of displaced people is now officially said to be 456,292 and is likely to go beyond half a million in the weeks ahead
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Friday pledged unlimited funds for support and sustenance of hundreds of thousands of people displaced amid an ongoing military operation against terrorists in North Waziristan tribal region.
Addressing the displaced families in Bannu, Prime Minister Sharif announced increasing assistance package per family by Rs 20,000 from the current Rs 12,000. He also said that a special allowance of Rs 20,000 would also be given to each family during Ramadan, expected to start from Monday.
The number of displaced people is now officially said to be 456,292 and is likely to go beyond half a million in the weeks ahead.
The prime minister said the government was cognizant of the difficulties of the displaced families and military and civil officials were working together to provide relief to them. Sharif said safe and peaceful return of the displaced to their homes would be ensured after the establishment of peace in North Waziristan. “We are working day and night to solve your problems and we will not leave you in these difficult times,” the premier added.
Earlier this morning, the premier arrived in Bannu in a helicopter to visit the camps of internally displaced persons (IDPs) and was received by Chief of Army Staff General Raheel Sharif. Nawaz was accompanied by Information Minister Pervaiz Rashid, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Chief Minister Pervez Khattak, KP Governor Sardar Mehtab Abbasi and States and Frontier Regions (SAFRON) Minister Lt Gen (r) Abdul Qadir Baloch.
On the occasion, the military officials gave a detailed briefing to the prime minister on the arrangements made for the IDPs in relief camps. He also met with the soldiers and officers of the Pakistan Army.
Sharif said that terrorism had challenged the state’s writ. He said the homes destroyed during the operation in North Waziristan would be constructed soon, adding that the government would also build new schools, hospitals and roads in the tribal region. He said that damage assessment will be done once IDPs will return to their houses and decision about the construction phase would take place.
The prime minister had also extended an invitation to Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan but he had declined the invite, citing his party’s rally in Bahawalpur on Friday.