Chief Minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Muhammad Sohail Afridi chaired a high-level meeting on Monday to review the law and order situation, governance, and progress on development programmes in the merged districts.

During the meeting, the chief minister directed the administration to significantly improve public service delivery within the next three months, saying that people should witness a clear and practical change in the quality of government services during this period.

He also ordered the immediate restoration of development activities in North Waziristan, directing the relevant authorities to resume all ongoing projects within one week. He instructed officials to ensure the immediate deployment of the required officers and staff to facilitate the process.

Emphasising the importance of education, Afridi directed the authorities to launch special initiatives to bring out-of-school children in the merged districts into the formal education system. He noted that the provincial government has allocated dedicated funds in the current fiscal year's budget to support school enrolment campaigns. The chief minister also ordered the education department to address the shortage of teachers in schools on an emergency basis.

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The meeting was further informed that steps would be taken to reassess the shortage of doctors in hospitals across the merged districts, with additional recruitments to be made according to need.

Afridi also instructed the provincial authorities to write to the relevant federal officials regarding the payment of pending compensation to the victims of Operation Zarb-e-Azb, stating that affected families should receive their outstanding dues without further delay.

Highlighting the security situation, the chief minister said the merged districts remain on the frontline in the fight against terrorism and stressed that they should receive top priority in the provision of modern weapons and equipment for law enforcement agencies.

He appreciated the police department for establishing state-of-the-art Police Facilitation Centres in the merged districts, saying such initiatives would improve public access to services and strengthen confidence in state institutions.

"The focus should not only be on constructing buildings but on delivering quality public services so that people's trust in the government can be restored," the chief minister said.