Speaking at a press conference, president PML-N upper Chitral Shahab Uddin Advocate, senior vice-president Irshad Javed Advocate, Sardar Ahmad Khan, Shahbaz Muhammad Khan, councillor Muhammad Murad and others said during his visit to Chitral in July 2015, the prime minister while addressing the flood-affected people at Kuragh had announced to waive small agricultural loans taken by the people of Chitral.
They said the announcement had given a sense of relief to thousands of households who were not in a position to repay the loans as their houses, standing crops and other properties were damaged in the floods. Then came the October 26, 2015, earthquake that further increased the agonies of the people of Chitral. However, the prime minister’s announcement to provide relief to the people by waiving the agricultural loans could not be materialized due to bureaucratic red tape.
As the government failed to issue a notification waiving the loans, private banks have started harassing the people to return their money. This confusion and harassment has put the people of Chitral in a very awkward situation. How can they pay the loans when they have lost everything to the floods and earthquake, they asked.
It is also regrettable that the elected representatives of Chitral have utterly failed to pursue the matter at the federal government level and get the notification issued.
They demanded that the prime minister should take notice of the delay in the implementation of his order to waive the small loans and direct the State Bank to issue the notification to provide relief to the people of the calamity-hit district of Chitral.–Bashir Hussain]]>
