KABUL - President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani on Monday said 10 provinces deprived of some important developments would be paid special attention.
The president said this while presiding over a meeting that discussed requirements of provinces at the Presidential Palace, a statement from the palace to Pajhwok Afghan News said.
Deputy ministers of education, energy and water, agriculture, mines and petroleum, labor and social affairs, rural development, tribal and border affairs and others attended the meeting, the statement added.
It said President Ghani thanked the officials for presenting their reports to the meeting and said 10 deprived provinces were at top of government’s priority programs.
He also asked relevant ministries to consider the provinces in their development programs. He said soon a delegation would be sent to Paktika province to identify people’s problems.
The president asked ministries to add Paktika province to a special table in their operational plans.
Hr said one of the important requirements of Paktika was electricity and the Ministry of Water and Energy should take action in this regard.
Ghani said Paktika was rich in natural resources particularly in petroleum, asking the Ministry of Mines and Petroleum to start its research on natural resources of the province.

Long and short term development plans have been prepared for deprived provinces by considering people’s major demands, he said, acknowledging the youth needed more job opportunities. (Pajhwok)