PESHAWAR: Provincial Governor Sardar Mahtab Ahmad Khan on Tuesday launched a scheme to give cash to the internally displaced persons of North Waziristan Agency by cellphone SIM cards.

The launching ceremony held at the Governor`s House.

According to the relevant officials, Rs1 billion will be disbursed to the IDPs through SIM cards under the scheme.

The displaced people will get Rs250 million every month.

They said Rs40,000 would be given to the head of every IDP family by activated SIM cards.

At least 25,000 families will benefit from the scheme for which the government recently signed an agreement with a foreign cellular company.

According to the officials, apart from the Rs40,000 grant, the SIM cards will also be used for giving monthly assistance of Rs10,000 to every displaced family for the next six months.

They said the scheme had been introduced to check discrepancies and duplication in the distribution of cash to IDPs.

Addressing a jirga from North Waziristan on the occasion, the governor said the mass displacement from the tribal agency was a great human tragedy in the country`s history.He said the tribesmen had rendered great sacrifices for the country and therefore, the government would not abandon them during the current testing times.

Sardar Mahtab said Nadra had verified 25,000 displaced families, who would benefit from the scheme.

He also said food distribution to IDPs would continue for six months.

The governor said the people of North Waziristan stood by the Pakistan Army, which was targeting hideouts of militants in their areas.

He ordered immediate release of salary to the government employees serving in North Waziristan.

He also asked the political administration of the agency to establish a camp office in Bannu to facilitate IDPs.

IDPS` REGISTRATION: The registration of IDPs from North Waziristan for cellphone SIM cards continued in Peshawar on Tuesday, APP reported.

The registration had begun on Monday.

On Tuesday, the administration registered IDPs from Dattakhel and Boya tehsils of North Waziristan from 7am to 3pm.

Also, the remaining displaced families from Miramshah were registered.

Long queues of IDPs were seen at the registration points, where entry of journalists was banned.

Also, APP reported that the health directorate of the Fata Secretariat has finalised arrangements for provision of medical facilities to IDPs from North Waziristan.

A news release issued by the Fata Secretariat said the directorate had set up medical camps atall exist points, where doctors, paramedics and technical staff provided health facilities to IDPs.

It said mobile health units had already been deployed at the FR Bannu and Bannu district.

It said health officials working in South Waziristan had been deployed in FR Bannu as well as the provincial health department for the service of IDPs.

IDPS RETURNING FROM AFGHANISTAN: The IDPs of North Waziristan, who had migrated to Afghanistan due to military operation against militants, are returning home, APP reported on Tuesday.

More than 1,600 such families have been registered in Parachinar area of Kurram Agency, officials said.

They said the returning IDPs were entering Parachinar via Alizai area.

They said the number of such IDPs ran into thousands and that they had moved to Khost province of Afghanistan via Ghulam Khan checkpost.

The officials said during the last few days, the affected tribesmen of Waziristan were returning home and were shifted to different parts of the country.

They said the returning IDPs were registered at the Government High School of Alizai tehsil and that around 1,600 families, including 12,000 people, had been registered so far.

Currently, the Fata Disaster Management Authority provides travelling facilities to the IDPs coming in, while the health workers administer anti-polio drops to them.

The Tori tribe of Parachinar is also extending assistance to such IDPs on humanitarian basis.