Development initiative: 63 projects for tribal areas approved

34 of 110 community development schemes have been completed

DERA GHAZI KHAN:

The Punjab government has approved 63 development projects in tribal areas of Dera Ghazi and Rajanpur. Tribal Areas Development Project Director Tahir Khursheed announced this at a meeting on Friday.

He told the meeting that the schemes included construction of small dams, provision of water for drinking and agricultural purposes, installation of tubewells, and digging deep wells. He said Rs41 million would be spent on these projects.

He told the meeting that under a community development scheme, 1,029 solar panels of 50 Watts would be provided to residents of tribal areas. He said Rs35 million had been allocated for this.

The project director said water filtration units would be fixed near ponds and wells.

He said research on identification of water sources and demand for water should be started as soon as possible.

He said feasibility studies for construction of small dams in Rajanpur and Dera Ghazi Khan should also be done.

He said schools lacking electricity would be provided solar panels. He said the TADP officials had been tasked to survey schools for this purpose.

He said technical staff of the TADP should work with residents of tribal areas to understand their needs.

“We want to implement projects that people want. We don’t want to waste resources on useless schemes,” he said.

He told the meeting that the Punjab government had sanctioned Rs3.38 billion for developmental projects in the tribal area.

He said 45 per cent construction of seven 143-kilometer roads had been completed. He said Rs389 million had been spent on this project.

Khursheed said 34 of 110 community development schemes had been completed.

He said 6,250 solar panels had already been distributed among residents of tribal areas.

Officials of the district government of Dera Ghazi Khan and Rajanpur, MPAs, Dera Ghazi Khan political assistant Shahid Mehboob, Rajanpur political assistant Imran Munir, superintendent engineer Altaf Ahmad, regional manager NRSP Abdur Razzaq Sheerani, community development specialist Aftab Ahmad Malik, project coordinator Amjad Hussain, assistant programmer Muhammad Yasir Bhatti and several others participated in the meeting.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 19^th, 2015.