One of the favourite hunting grounds of the present military-political combine in command of the country is poverty alleviation. Regardless of the songs and dances composed to depict achievements , there is little concrete evidence of any reportable headway made in this direction.

On the other hand, abundant proof of abject poverty prevailing in many regions of the country stares one at every step. A brief visit to far-flung Chitral brought home the fact that the depth of poverty is not easily to be fathomed and its extent is not to be demarcated, at least in this region.

Behind the smiling, inviting and friendly features of the valleys of Chitral, largest district of the North Western Frontier Province (NWFP), lies the hard pain that, as the poet Faiz Ahmed Faiz had said, cannot be transformed into song; the valleys are however lyricism sat its most enchanting. But that does not alleviate poverty.

If anything, the breathtakingly beautiful landscape of streams gushing through lush green or barren gray hills and mountains, river Chitral meandering between agricultural fields, tin-roofed or thatched houses and fruit gardens and a spontaneous quality of innocence of the people makes their miseries look more stark. Chitral, in short, has been left behind the time.

The area was last visited by a planned developmental work in the early 70s, that is, the first government of the Pakistan Peoples Party (now PPP Parliamentarians) led by the late Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto.

It has been so comprehensively neglected since then that one wonders if it even exists for the government. Chitral has in fact been left to its fate and that, unfortunately, has not treated it with any mention worthy of a degree of kindness or sympathy.

But a remarkable aspect of local life is that most people are happy, contended and brave the odds without the type of complaints one comes across in places accorded attention in all political seasons. The region and its inhabitants live without furrowed brows and stoically accept struggle as their lot.

It is not that the region has no resources but the governmental neglect has trapped it in isolation; weather conditions making air journey uncertain and travelling from Peshawar, the nearest major urban point to Chitral city by public transport consumes about 16 hours on a road divided in to metal and kuchha stretches and winding heights of Lawari top have virtually quarantined it from the rest of the NWFP and Pakistan.

Chitral becomes even more inaccessible during a long winter season by heavy snowfall that covers the dark lives of the people with a blanket of pure, and for a visitor, heavenly whiteness.

This is a time of the year when employment opportunities, limited even in the spring season, become scarcer. As no consumer goods are locally produced, shopkeepers hoard and often sell them at thrice the original prices, contributing their share to the enhancement of poverty.

Although the main activity of the people is farming, none of the crops is sufficient for local needs. The main crop is maize but its yield is low because larger tracts of land belong to members of the previously ruling aristocracy that has numerous more profitable pursuits and small farmers are restricted to land that would not be considered appropriate for residential construction by the affluent in major cities of the country.

Water is available but many farms are located above the flow level of water and they are mostly too small and too scattered that lift irrigation has to be ruled out, not that the possibility has been tried. Even otherwise, maize isn't the staple food of people who prefer wheat; about 70 per cent of the wheat consumed by the people is 'imported'.

Growing wheat is problematic because the crop is cultivated in winter. The sprouting of seed when the fields are cleared of snow is a strange phenomenon. But the yield is abysmally low, no more than eight to ten maunds to an acre. This is a manner of describing the situation because the size of most farms is much smaller than an acre.

Delicious and juicy apples, fine tasting apricots and small black grapes are also widely grown but the only market available for fruits is local shops; transportation limitations disallow sale in places outside Chitral with the result that a considerable percentage of the produce rots.

There is no fruit preservation industry and the use of grapes as raw material for brewing wine is obviously not regarded as an option by commitment to conservatism. As a result, fruit growing hardly yields much financial benefit to the locals.

While the fruits taste well, their quality is low because of pest attacks; apples are often pockmarked. The agriculture activities of the people call for attention from the provincial agriculture department.

It has presence in Chitral but concentrates on working on the lands under it instead of reaching farmers and helping them raise the quality of their produce. It is also a question if the experts of the provincial agriculture department are qualified for guiding the people in resolving the complicated problems confronting their crops.

It is a region rich in forestry but the aristocracy has vastly and callously plundered forests. However, there still are sufficient resources to develop wood-based industries like match factories and furniture. That possibility has not been explored.

Marble is available in plenty and I was told that it is excellent in quality. Two marble factories were recently set up but it is too early to assess what kind of impact they would have on local economy and employment generation.

Tourism provides work and income to locals but many factors have hampered its growth and, in any case, infrastructure facilities are limited. The PTDC motels in Chitral and Kalash, where electricity is restricted to a few hours in the evening, provide standard facilities while some private hotels in Chitral are also of a fair standard but Kalash has little to offer on this count. Good hotels and motorable roads, at least such that do not turn travel by four wheelers a frightening experience are badly needed.

Tourism was hit hard in the wake of September 11 attacks on Washington and New York. Foreign tourists wrote it off as a possible destination and the little income that the locals could earn from visitors dried up after that event. Recently, however, domestic tourism increased. A fairly large number of people from within the country visited Chitral and Kalash this year.

Foreigners are also trickling in. There is no threat of terrorism in Chitral's crime free society that understands the demands of tourism despite the fact that the district is politically represented by the MMA. Nevertheless, it would be quite some time before Chitral regains its pre-September 11 popularity in international tourism.

Chitral has so far survived the government's neglect and it seems its people would ultimately beat the trap of poverty. The reason for making this conclusion is the local's emphasis on education.

Chitral city has about 80 per cent literacy while some areas have attained 100 per cent literacy; even members of the Kalash tribe that has stayed in darkness for a long time are beginning to realize that the light of education is essential for their children.

The most remarkable development is about 100 per cent literacy among females of the city. One of the main occupations of Chitral's educated women is teaching and many of them have taken up teaching assignments in Swat and Dir.

The people are beginning to utilize their potential and they seem poised for a leap forward. All that the region needs is better and more reliable communication facilities with the rest of the country. Once that is done, Chitral has strength to come into its own and emerge from the poverty that currently strangulates the place and its people.