The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) government is spending a large amount of its budget to develop the war-torn region of North Waziristan.
In this regard, KP Chief Minister Mahmood Khan has announced the establishment of a unique Education City in North Waziristan.
The Education City will be established at Peer Kalay Topi area in North Waziristan District and will cover an area of 1070 Kanals.
The CM has issued instructions to create a working group for the project immediately.
While chairing a high-level meeting regarding the project, the chief minister said that the environment of the Education City would be according to tribal traditions. He added that a special educational environment would be provided to promote women education.
He further stated that Education City would also benefit students of Afghanistan which would help to promote people to people relationships between Pakistan and Afghanistan.
In the proposed Education City, 250 Kanals of land will be allotted for roads. These roads will be built at a cost of Rs375 million.
A total of 50 Kanals of land will be for the private sector, while 390 Kanals will be allotted to the government sector.
Moreover, a total of 100 Kanals of land will be allotted to build sports facilities to indulge the youth in positive activities.
It was also revealed that a total of 170 Kanals will be allotted for residential purposes and schools and colleges, out of which 40 Kanals will be for hostels.
For the development of Education City, an estimated grant of Rs1.5 billion has been announced.
During the meeting, the CM directed his team to make the project a part of Tribal Decade Strategy; the 10-year development plan for the newly merged areas.
CM Mehmood Khan said that the provincial government will give all out support for these initiatives. He added that providing quality education, especially to uplift female education in the newly merged tribal districts, is their priority.
It is important to mention here that members of National Assembly from Waziristan, Ali Wazir and Mohsin Dawar, have been released a few days ago. The people of Waziristan gathered in large numbers to welcome both MNAs on their arrival.
The provincial government can counter the increasing popularity of the Pashtun Tahafuz movement (PTM) in the region by building mega-development projects.