Chitral-the land of seminars, workshops, meetings
Chitral — Counting the many peculiarities of Chitral, it can be mentioned that it is a land of seminars, workshops and meetings. NGO’s hold seminars on regular basis in expensive hotels and after the “nishastan, guftan, barkhastan’ and praying “Allah Allah, Khairs Allah” they go their way. If seminars were to be the gauge for performance of NGOs, every NGO in Chitral would emerge an ace and a champion performer. However the actual situation on ground and that projected in seminars and presentations have a decent distance between them.
Guest speakers come from down country to attend/speak in the seminars and return home after enjoying the refreshing weather and sight seeing; but for whom the seminars are held, continue to suffer lack of basic amenities, vis a vis electricity crisis, potable water, health facilities being some to mention.
One erstwhile dissident from a leading NGO, speaking to CN said if all the money spent on NGO’s seminars, meetings and workshops since their inception was distributed among the people of Chitral individually, every Chitrali would have been a rich person and much better off than what he/she is today.
In Chitral, seminars and meetings are not sole propriety of NGOs only. Even petty politicians, organisations are also very fond of ‘poor man seminars’ called meetings, in their own capacity. Many a times meetings like seminars end as if it was an end in itself and was solution to the problem, as no follow up is seen after the seminar/meeting and the issue stands as it was. — CN report, 26 Aug 2016.