ISLAMABAD - The government is committed to facilitate the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) of the North Waziristan Agency and in this regard the priority is being given to health and education.
This was said by Federal Minister for States and Frontier Region (SAFRON) Lt. Gen (Retd) Abdul Qadir Baloch while talking to APP.
"The government is providing education to the children of IDPs in their shelter camps while efforts are underway to adjust some of the students in local schools temporarily to continue their education for which the Ministry is focussing on provision of additional funds," he informed. The Minister while giving details of the facilities at the IDPs camps told that the government has also ensured the availability of medicines and doctors. Appreciating the role of NGOs, he said that NGOs were also playing active role in this regard.  Besides the responsibility of the Afghan refugees, he said that the SAFRON Ministry was also taking care of the IDPs as 1 million were dislocated from North Waziristan in Zarb-e-Azb action.
"Though we are facilitating them but yet we cannot pay them the cost of leaving their homes, their routine lives and leaving occupations as they have financial problems and they were not comfortable," Baloch said.
Responding to a question, he said that IDPs were not going back in some of the areas in the first phase of operation as there was a risk of using the local population by the terrorists as human shields.
For the IDPs, the government plans their return soon and focuses on facilitating them at maximum level till their stay in camps, he said.