Mainstreaming of FATA, uplift of TDPs govt’s priority: PM

1
131

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi on Wednesday said that the mainstreaming of FATA and complete rehabilitation of temporary displaced persons remained the foremost priority of the government.

The people of the tribal areas had paid the heaviest price in the war against militancy and had rendered huge sacrifices for a national cause, he said during a briefing by Ministry of SAFRON at Prime Minister’s Office.

The prime minister, during the meeting, reviewed various measures being taken for the mainstreaming of FATA and to bring the people of the tribal areas at par with rest of the country through socio-economic development and uplift projects.

The prime minister was informed that out of 237,000 displaced families, only 16,000 families were left which were yet to be rehabilitated.

It was informed that an amount of Rs 52.874 billion had been spent so far for the purpose of rehabilitation of the dislocated persons. The prime minister expressed satisfaction over the progress made so far.

The meeting also discussed the issue of Afghan refugees in the country. It was informed that 1.4 million registered and nearly 0.6 million unregistered Afghan refugees were present in the country.

The meeting was informed that merely 600,000 Afghan refugees returned to their homeland last year during voluntary repatriation programme.

Matters pertaining to 14 princely states of the country also came under discussion.