Sharing joy: IDPs to get gifts on Eid says Shahbaz

LAHORE: Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif said on Saturday the government would distribute gifts among the people displaced by the ongoing military operation in North Waziristan. The chief minister was speaking to philanthropists, business leaders and assembly members who presented cheques for around Rs120 million for internally displaced persons (IDPs). Sharif said the government had sent more than 70 truckloads of relief items and 40 trucks carrying fodder to Bannu. He said the government had also handed Rs7,000 each to the displaced families. The chief minister said the government would continue to provide help until the IDPs were rehabilitated. “Every donated penny will be transparently spent on the welfare of the people from North Waziristan,” he said. The chief minister praised the IDPs for their contribution to the war on terror. He said they had left their houses and had been braving harsh weather to make the operation a success.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 20^th, 2014.