ISLAMABAD   -   Prime Minister Shehbaz Shar­if on Wednesday directed the authorities concerned to for­mulate a comprehensive de­velopment package for the uplift of merged districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

The prime minister, in a meeting with a seven-member delegation of political lead­ership from the merged dis­tricts, headed by former MNA Shah Gul Afridi, assured that he as well as the incumbent government considered the development of merged dis­tricts a national priority.

Parliament Affairs Minister Murtaza Javed Abbasi, Advisor to PM Engineer Amir Muqam and relevant senior officers at­tended the meeting.

The delegation members ap­preciated the Pakistan Mus­lim League-N (PML-N) for presenting a strategy for the merger of Federally Adminis­tered Tribal Areas (FATA) into KP which was later achieved through legislation.

They told the prime minister that during the last four years, the previous government ne­glected the development of merged districts which also impeded the implementation of the development strategy presented by the PML-N.

The delegation members ap­prised the prime minister of the issues faced by their re­spective constituencies, partic­ularly the water shortage in Pe­shawar. They also emphasised the measures for the promo­tion of trade activity in the ar­eas bordering Afghanistan. The prime minister assured them to take steps in this regard to uplift the living standard of the people on both sides of the bor­der through trade. The prime minister assured the delega­tion of full implementation of the comprehensive develop­ment strategy for the merged districts. Meanwhile, Chair­man of Management Commit­tee of Pakistan Cricket Board Najam Sethi on Wednesday called on Prime Minister She­hbaz Sharif here and briefed him about the matters per­taining to the Board. Sethi ap­prised the prime minister of the steps being taken by the PCB regarding the revival of domestic cricket in Pakistan. They also discussed the par­ticipation of Pakistan in the international tournaments besides holding consultation on the upcoming Asia Cup. Fi­nance Minister Ishaq Dar and Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal also attended the meeting