Govt fails to register 2.4m children in merged districts

North Waziristan local government coordinator warns children will face major difficulties in the future

MIRAN SHAH: At least 2.4 million children of newly merged districts (NMDs) have not had their births registered which would most likely create problems for their enrolment in schools.

The coordinator local government North Waziristan Muhammad Habib has said that 2.4 million tribal children have been deprived of registering their births in the national registration process, while it is considered mandatory for children to enable them to be registered at a health centre and school  enrolment

While addressing a press conference at the Miran Shah Press Club on Saturday, Habib stated if parents in the merged district registered their children's’ birth, the government can better plan for their health, education and protection.

Throughout North Waziristan the local government has provided facilities to register children under the age of 18 completely free and the male and female staff are going from village to village and education institutions to get the children registered with the national database, Habib stated.

So far, 1,600 children have been registered with the institution for birth registration forms and 6,300 certificates have been prepared and have been distributed to their family representative while the process can be expedited if they take active participation in the registration process, coordinator local government stated.

He urged the public of the North Waziristan and all merged district parents to register their children and to cooperate with the local government staff to get their under-18 children good education, healthcare and social security in the merged districts.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 8^th, 2019.