ISLAMABAD:Meeting of the Senate Standing Committee on States and Frontier Regions (SAFRON) Thursday showed concern on the delay in payments of 0.4 million to each household in the tribal district South Waziristan and directed to expedite all matters related to their due payments.
Earlier, the committee, which met with chairman Senator Hilal-ur-Rehman in the chair, was in detail briefed by the Relief, Rehabilitation and Settlement Department Khyber Pakhtunkhwa regarding putting curbs on the survey of damaged houses and non-payment to households in tribal district South Waziristan.
When the committee inquired about the reason for the delays, the committee was informed that bureaucratic hiccups were the main reason for the delay and that a requisition worth PKR 65 billion had been submitted. However, they await the decision till to this date.
The committee was informed that no audit had been conducted since the merger and that all loopholes in the system must be removed.
The committee was of the view that a summary regarding the survey will be sent on its behalf to the prime minister.
Discussing the change of status of Type –D Hospital to a Rural Health Centre (RHC), the committee took notice of the unavailability of staff on a regular basis.
It is asserted that the minimum staff of a Basic Health Unit (BHU) had been deployed, however, no staff is available in the unit.
The committee directed Secretary, Department of Health Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to visit the Health Unit within a week and issue a show cause notice to all those who are absent.
The committee also directed the Secretary Health Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to submit a detailed compliance report to the committee after the visit. An investigation against the DHO was asserted as well.
The committee at the outset was also given a detailed briefing by the finance and revenue Department about the demarcation of boundaries of tribal district South Waziristan and the allocation of funds for the establishment of headquarters and line department offices for newly created districts.
In response, the committee stressed the need to curtail any notification unless proper demarcation of the Mehsud Area was not completed. A letter would be written to the Chief Secretary by the Committee in this regard.
Discussing issues of non-absorption of large numbers of Levies and Khasadars Force of ex-FATA in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, non-payment of salaries to police personnel of Tribal District South Waziristan and details of ghost police personnel of merged areas that are absent from duty, the Committee was provided details of the same by Additional IGP Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the Home Department.
A final document will be shared with the Committee after tallying details presented by both offices.
The meeting was attended by Senator Sania Nishter, Senator Bahramand Khan Tangi, Senator Shamim Afridi, Senator Dost Muhammad Khan, Senator Gurdeep Singh, Senator Syed Muhammad Sabir Shah, Senator Haji Hidayat Ullah Khan and senior officers of the Ministry of Sates and Frontier Regions, Department of Finance Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Home Department Khyber Pakhtunkhwa along with all concerned.