Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan on Saturday vowed to bring the erstwhile Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) into the national mainstream. Chairing a high-level meeting, PM Imran Khan ordered to provide health cards to 0.5 million families in the tribal areas by the end of January. He said that the government wanted to bring the tribal districts at par with other developed areas of the country. The PM directed the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Mahmood Khan to ensure provision of all the basic utilities to the people of tribal areas. Imran Khan directed to start recruitment process in police and other departments immediately so as to provide jobs to the local people. He said that FATA was the most affected area from terrorism and said that the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI)-led government is committed to resolve all the issues of the tribal areas. Earlier, Khan, on December 31, 2018 had said that the development and progress of FATA was the top priority of PTI government. Presiding over a high-level meeting to review the facilities of education, heath, administrative issues and peace, Khan had ordered to expedite efforts to impose local government system in the tribal areas. Published in Daily Times, January 13th 2019.