MANSEHRA, June 23: Female voters would exercise their right to vote for the first time in the urban areas of Battagram district in the June 26 by-election on PF-59 seat.

Sources said that the contesting candidates and the male voters had reached an understanding that the women in the rural areas of the district would be kept away from the polling stations. They said that a local jirga, held here the other day, decided to allow the female voters to cast their ballot at about 12 polling stations.

The jirga also decided to keep the men out of these polling stations and sought deployment of police personnel on these points. The Feb 18 election on the seat had been postponed due to the death of a candidate, Ayaz Khan, who was a former provincial minister.

Jawad Khan, assistant election commissioner of Battagram, when contacted, told Dawn that he had worked to make sure that female voters were able to use their right of vote in the by-election. “I am optimistic that female polling would be held during the June 26 by-elections but it is premature to say at how many poling booths.” Mr Jawad said that 197 polling booths had been set up at about 68 polling stations in the district of which 70 were specified for female voters.

Meanwhile, police sources said that for the by-election a security plan had been chalked out to cope with any untoward situation. They said that 24 polling stations had been declared sensitive and 23 highly sensitive.

Akhtar Jawad Khan of the PPP, Iqbal Khan, independent, Anwar Baig of PML-N, Taj Mohammad Khan Trind independent, Jawad Khan of the ANP, Iqbal Mohammad independent, Shaukat Hayat advocate independent, Mohammad Israr Khan independent, Mohammad Aitzaz Ayaz of the MMA and Adnan Fiaz independent, are in the fray for the seat.

Security of NGOs beefed up: The Battagram police tightened the security of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) working in different parts of the district after threats by the local Taliban, officials said on Monday.

Sources said that after the Taliban’s threatening letter to the district coordinator officer, district police officer, district and tehsil nazims, the police had enhanced security of the NGOs’ offices and staff.

They said that majority of the NGOs had suspended their field activities after the threatening letter was received. Some NGOs transferred the female staff to Mansehra, Abbottabad or other districts, while others terminated the female staff from service due to the deteriorating security situation in the earthquake-affected district.

An official of an international NGO told this correspondent that it was difficult for most of the NGOs to shift their offices from Battagram to any other district as billions of reconstruction and rehabilitation projects were underway.

When asked that Taliban had warned only the female staff members of the NGOs to terminate their services or face the consequences he said, “NGOs have been working according to the mandate given by the donors and donors always want to induct maximum numbers of the female staff in their projects, as they want to empower and bring the women folk at par with the male segment of the society.”

He said that without the female staff members a NGO could not work in the child and mother care and women related projects, as women and children were the most neglected and deprived segments of the society.

It is learnt that the police despite beefing-up the security of the NGOs in the district had asked them to limit their field activities.

Earthquake rehabilitation and reconstruction activities of the government departments have also been suffering because of the suspension of the NGOs activities, as most of the reconstruction projects were being completed with the collaboration of the NGOs and the government departments.