ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan said that government is determined for the development of merged areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and allocation of development funds worth 48 billion rupees for current fiscal year shows his government s resolve for the purpose.

He was chairing a meeting in Islamabad Wednesday to review progress on the development projects continuing in merged areas.

The Prime Minister directed to prioritize the development projects in next budget, in consultation with local leadership and people s representatives, which are immediate need of the people and directly beneficial to the masses in least possible time.

He advised to constitute a committee comprising representatives of the federal and provincial governments to monitor progress on the development projects and to timely achieve the set targets. He asked the elected representatives to take people on board to seek public support regarding the development process continuing in merged districts.

Imran Khan said special focus should be given to provision of justice to the people.

The meeting was informed that 217 projects, including education, health, communication, irrigation, sports, law and justice, agriculture, energy, clean drinking water, have so far been approved for merged areas. NNI