Punjab govt to build 2,000 homes for IDPs in North Waziristan

Shahbaz reveals Punjab govt will also give Rs350 million to 54,000 displaced families in August.

BANNU: Expressing solidarity with internally displaced persons (IDPs) of North Waziristan as he arrived in Bannu on Wednesday, Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif announced that the provincial government will build at least 2,000 homes in North Waziristan for the displaced people.

Governor Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) Sardar Mehtab Abbasi and Information Minister Pervaiz Rashid also accompanied the Punjab chief minister on his visit to Bannu.

While addressing the IDPs, Shahbaz revealed that the Punjab government will give Rs350 million to 54,000 displaced families in August.

Shahbaz also stated that the Punjab government will build a hospital costing Rs1 billion and a university in North Waziristan.

Commenting on the ongoing military operation in North Waziristan, he said, "this war will change the country to what Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah and Dr Allama Iqbal envisioned."

Shahbaz also distributed Eid gifts and relief goods among the displaced persons.

"The role of IDPs will be written in history," the chief minister remarked, referring to the sacrifices of the IDPs who had to leave their homes after the operation began.

Shahbaz said that this is a difficult time not just for the displaced people but for all Pakistanis, further stating that the entire nation is standing by the IDPs.

The Punjab chief minister also said that the migration of IDPs will not go to waste, adding that they had left their homes to make peace possible.