Sir: Southern districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) are considered the most backward areas of the province. They are comprised of Kark, Bannu, Lakki Marwat, Tank and Dikhan. The world is progressing day by day while these areas are retrogressing. There is one main factor which is responsible for our backwardness: failure of successive governments and elected parliamentarians. None of the previous federal and provincial governments focused on these regions and have continued to neglect them for years on end. Due to lack of government attention the people are deprived of their basic facilities in all walks of life. There are no adequate educational institutions to provide education to the children of the area, no roads for transportation, and no hospitals for patients. For fulfilment of these basic necessities, the people have to either go to Peshawar, or any other major city of Khyber-Pakhtunkwa. In district Lakki Marwat, there are many areas where people have to walk miles for the closet source of drinking water, with some even resorting to using rain water for their needs. The people are not demanding luxuries like highways or motorways; instead they just want the basic amenities of life for their daily survival. They face many others issues of similar nature. The government must solve the issues on priority basis. Our parliamentarians are equally responsible for backwardness of their respective areas. They always protected their self-interests and don’t raise their voice for the people of their constituencies. This time the people of the region cast their votes for PTI candidates, which resulted in the party bagging the majority of the seats in the Southern districts. It should be pointed out that many of them are old faces, so it is important that they not repeat their previous mistakes and raise their voice for the betterment of their own districts. In their previous stint in KP, the PTI focused on developed areas, and Southern districts remained undeveloped. This time, they are back in power once again, so they must focus on the Southern districts as well. Lastly, this time the Provincial Government must solve the issue of the ‘backward’ areas and mainstream them. They must distribute government funds evenly. RAZA ULLAH KHAN Lakki Marwat Published in Daily Times, August 21st 2018.