LAKKI MARWAT: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser has criticised the federal government for portraying the people of the province as electricity thieves and said that deprivations of smaller provinces have increased manifold under the PML-N government.

He was speaking at a PTI workers convention in Manjiwala here on Sunday. Other speakers included provincial law minister Imtiaz Shahid, MPA Ziaullah Bangash and PTI district president Saleem Nawaz.

Mr Qaiser also administered oath to new of fice-bearers of the district press club, including its president Mohammad Adeel and general secretary Hafiz Minhajuddin.

`Being a power producing province the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is not being given its due share of electricity and as such the people have been subjected to prolonged and unscheduled loadshedding,` he said. The speaker said that the federal minister for water and power called Pakhtuns power stealers when they raised voice for their rights.

He said that the federal government could not bring consensus among the provinces on 6th NFC Award, thus paving the way for continuing with the 5th NFC Award for another one year, depriving smaller provinces of their due rights and shares.

He said that it was for the first time that the provincial government had started development schemes in all parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and people would soon feel the change in all sectors. He criticised JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman for opposing the KP-Fata merger. Several elders of the area joined PTI on this occasion.

TRAFFIC RULES: Taking notice of accidents on the Indus Highway, the area police have launched an awareness campaign to sensitise drivers to use their lane and follow the speed limit. An official said on Sunday that taking notice of accidents and violation of traf fic rules, DPO Khalid Hamdani had ordered the police officials and traffic wardens to launch an awareness campaign.

He said that the district police used its own resources to fill deep ditches in the highway. He said that the cops also installed signboards on roadsides to sensitise drivers to follow own lane. He said that pamphlets carrying messages to obey traf fic rules had been distributed among drivers on the route.