CHITRAL: A videoconferencing system is being put in place in the office of the deputy commissioner here to spare heads of various government departments in Chitral from frequently travelling to Peshawar for official meetings.

Confirming the development on Wednesday, Chitral Deputy Commissioner Irshad Sodhar told Dawn that in line with the directives of the chief secretary, arrangements had been made to provide the facility of videoconferencing in his ofhce so that heads of government departments could be saved from travel to the provincial headquarters for meetings.

He said he had observed soon after his posting in Chitral two months ago that the heads of departments left for Peshawar every month mal(ing the meetings in the secretariatordirectorate merely an excuse while their attendance there was notnecessary at all.

Mr Sodhar said the video link would decrease the frequency of travel of the officers by 80 percent and they would go there only when it was extremely necessary and unavoidable.

He said he had made it mandatory for the officers to seek permission from his office before leaving the station.

Officials in different government departments, however, confided to Dawn that the officers were still defying the orders of the DC and left the station stealthily, but they did rush back as early as possible to escape his wrath.

They said in the past the officers left the station two days earlier than the scheduled date of meeting and returned the next week as most of them were nonlocals and visited their respective villages, and all this was done on government`s expense. Correspondent