PESHAWAR: Irfan Siddiqui, adviser to the prime minister and head of the division of National History and Literary Heritage, will lay the foundation stone of the regional office of the Pakistan Academy of Letters (PAL) in Hayatabad here today (Saturday).

This was stated by Said Wali Khial Moomand, resident director of PAL, Peshawar chapter.

He said that the regional office spread over two kanals in Phase-5, Hayatabad, would have an office for resident director, a conference hall, writers guest house, reading room and a library.

PAL, Islamabad, chairman Prof Dr Mohammad Qasim Bughio told Dawn that the federal government had already allocated Rs100 million for the PAL, Peshawar chapter, of which Rs57.8 million would be spent on the construction project.

He said that the Peshawar office had no financial issue, adding that the resident director’s post recently vacated by Mr Moomand on his superannuation and several other newly-created positions would be filled through a set criterion.

He, however, said that Mr Moomand would continue to serve as resident director till completion of the process of formation and notification of new policy rules being framed under his supervision.

PM’s adviser Irfan Siddiqui to lay foundation stone of the building

Mr Moomand said the land for the PAL regional office had been acquired in 2008 during the then tenure of resident director late Prof Mohammad Azam.

He said the regional office had been set up in 1989 in a two-room complementary building of KP Civil Secretariat, Peshawar.

He said that Governor Iqbal Zafar Jhagra and local literary figures were also expected to attend the groundbreaking ceremony.

“KP literati, who remained deprived of their own office in Peshawar for the last 29 years, will now have a decent place of their own where they will hold seminars, conferences, workshops, literary debates and mushairas, in addition to other literary events.

The construction work on the regional office will be completed in 18 months,” said Mr Moomand.

Project director Engineer Murad Ali told this scribe that the conference hall would accommodate around 300 participants while the writers’ guest house would have eight rooms.

Local poets, writers, and research scholars will benefit from the reading room and library, he added.

Mr Moomand said that PAL regional office had served its literary purpose despite difficulties, especially lack of space for holding literary events.

The PAL, Islamabad, was established in July 1976 with an objective to promote Pakistani literature and since its inception it had played an important role in national integration and unity.

Published in Dawn, January 27th, 2018