Laptops given to communities taken back

Our Correspondent

YARKHUN: Laptops given to community centres in scores of villages in and around Brep in Upper Chitral a few years ago have been taken back by the Ismaili Local Council when the communities needed them the most during the pandemic.

These laptops were used in Jamat Khanas to disseminate information and public awareness by using data sent in USBs by different organizations of the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN), as there is no internet or any other means of modern commission in the backward area. 

In the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, the need of these laptops increased manifold to create awareness and check the spread of the virus.

However, the local council of Brep about two months back collected the laptops from all villages in its jurisdiction saying these needed maintenance work and would be returned. 

But when the council was recently approached with a request to return the laptops, it refused to give them back. This step has been taken only in Brep as laptops given to other communities in Upper Chitral are still under their use.  

When contacted, the president of regional council Upper Chitral as well as the communication department of Ismaili National Council in Karachi promised to check and help it out, but the communities are still deprived of the facility.