Abstract

The social values, customs, and taboos in the Pakhtun-dominated regions serve as impediments to modernization. Dir a princely state ruled by Nawab until 1969 before its accession with Pakistan and now divided in two districts – Dir Upper and Dir Lower – has been specifically affected by the cultural constraints. This study discusses cultural constraints that impede social development and public policy in Dir upper. The study finds that education was completely banned during the Nawab era and the people were even not allowed to go out of the state in search of job, education, and healthcare. All this was done in the name of culture and Islam, which were alien to both the Pakhtun culture and Islam. These cultural constraints adversely affected policy-making and development in the district even after the accession. The cultural constraints specifically affected development, education, health, economy, public welfare and the justice system in Dir Upper.

Key Words

Pakhtun Culture, Cultural Constraints, Modernization, Education, Development, Islam

Introduction

Culture is the way of life that the people of a social group or a society lead. An English anthropologist Cristina De Rossi explained that culture is the common pattern of beliefs, values and behaviors, common language, religion, social habits, cuisine, music and arts (Rossi, 2018). A Canadian professor of sociology Dr. William Little introduced culture as, from the ancient time people formed and developed common habits and behaviors. The common beliefs, values, behaviors and fashion of the people of a society is the culture of that society (William, 2014). Culture is comprised of beliefs, values, language, communication and the common practices of the people in a society. Culture binds people on a collective forum (Cole, 2019).

The standard definitions of culture enable us to have a better look and analysis of the local culture in Dir Upper. The people of Dir Upper are very hospitable and they strictly follow the norms and traditions inherited by them from their ancestors. A bit conservative, the majority of the people are considered as ardent followers of the religion - Islam. Simplicity is one of the main features of the local culture of Dir Upper. The people of Dir Upper are straightforward forward and they never compromise on their honor and dignity. The majority of the people are against of women education. The people of the district don't like women to do jobs. Women participation is also discouraged in social and political affairs. They are confined to their homes. It is an old proverb and traditional anachronistic beliefs that 'women are suited only for domestic works (Khan, 2017). Dir Upper is a male dominant society. The people resolve their disputes through the "jirga system". The people strictly obey the 'jirga' rules. They sacrifice their desires or even lives to get the disputes resolved aper decisions made in a jirga. Therefore, the police and district administration also have to rely on the jirga of local elders to settle conflicts and disputes most of the time. 

Public policy is a policy formulated by the government regarding to public interest. It made for the welfare and development of the people of society (Sapru, 1994). Public policies are made for a particular purpose to achieve a defined goal and present solutions of the problems in society. Policies are the official statements of the government including decisions, rules, regulations, and law etc (Knill, 2008). Public policies are the laws, rules, regulations, actions, and priorities about specific problems or issues. It is a governmental decision that how to deal with an issue (Olutyo, 2015).

Public policies are the decisions of the government planned to resolve the problems of its citizens and to make their life better. At the central level, public policies are made to regulate business and industrial laws, protect the citizens and help the poor people through funding programs (Paul, 2011). Public policy can be defined as an official action taken by a government or company to fulfill the needs of the public and resolve their problems. Problems or issues expressed and demands are transformed to the government or policy-making institutions for further action, look for its alternative and take the final decision to formulate the policy in the favor of the public welfare and integrity of the state or society.

The role of culture in public policy-making has always been very important in every state and society. The elements and characteristics of culture either facilitate the public policy-making processes including implementation or serve as impediments to public policy-making process. Culture often influences the public policy-making process either its support the public policymakers to easily enact a policy or it obstructs the policy-making process.

The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Province of Pakistan has a very different culture from the rest of the country. There are 35 districts in KP including seven former federally administered tribal areas and the people of every district have a different culture and tribal background. Within KP, Dir Upper district has a very peculiar culture which although is linked with the general culture of the province has certain characteristics like ultra-traditionalism based on widespread tribalism and the resultant anti change social attitudes and behavior of the local residents. These cultural characteristics of Dir Upper have wide ranging implications for aspects of life including politics and specifically policy making and implementation. This research study is aimed at identifying and documenting the culture of Dir Upper and its inhibitive and facilitative role in public policy-making.




Statement of Problem

Culture is the dominant factor over the laws and policies in Dir Upper. It disrupted social and political life and impede the development in multiple sectors like education, economy, health, social welfare, etc. Certain cultural characteristics of Dir Upper have seriously affected the public policy making process by preventing the articulation of policy demands of the local population to achieve multi-sector and multi-aspect development in the district. The government policies thus have not been reflective of the local needs while could not fathom how policies could positively bring about pro-social changes in the shape on improving literacy, better health facilities, infrastructure development and so on. Thus cultural characteristics of Dir Upper need to be identified particularly the ones that impede the public policy making process for better socio-economic conditions and standards of life for the majority of residents.




Aims and Objectives of the Study

To analyze the policy making process in KP in general and Dir Upper in particular.

To identify cultural characteristics which impede or support the policymaking process.

To identify connection(s) of culture with public policy.

To identify policy demands and the government's performance (response) in Dir Upper.




Research Questions

•What is the overall culture of KP especially Dir Upper? 

•What are the cultural issues that affects public policy-making and implementation in Dir Upper?

•What are the connections between culture and public policy?

•What are the policy demands and response of the government?

Research Methodology

This is empirical research for which a qualitative method of research has been followed. Primary and secondary data have been collected and analyzed. Primary data was collected from the semi-structured and unstructured interviews with political leaders, social workers, common people of the district, sociologists and cultural anthropologists having worked on KP, Dir, and Pashtun culture and development studies. While collecting the actual data was difficult about cultural constraints in the development and public policy making, because most of the people were defending their culture, telling about their cultural barriers was against their honor and dignity. The data collected from primary source was thematically analyzed. 

Secondary data included the available materials on the subject in the form of books, articles, research papers, journals and interviews with the experts. But it was very difficult to collect enough data on the subject matter. A very less amount of data was found about the cultural constraints and public policy making in Dir Upper.  Analysis of whatever literature is available could also be done to describe and analyze the links between cultural constraints and public policy in general and Dir Upper in particular. 




Geographical and Historical Background of Dir Upper

Geographically and historically Dir is an important place. Fifteen to 20 civilizations including “The Ghandhara civilization”, “Huns”, “Budhism” etc have its reflections and remnants in Dir (Shahid, 2005). The geographical location of Dir is such that Swat is located in the east, Gilgit in the northwest, Chitral in the north, Bajaur and Afghanistan in the west, and Malakand district in the south. The national route of Pakistan from Karachi to Chitral and from Gilgit to China also pass through Dir. Its shared borders with Afghanistan and proximity with China gives it special importance on the world map. Dir is a living place for human beings for ten thousand years (Shahid, 2007). 

Before its merger with Pakistan in 1969, Dir was a princely state ruled by Nawab Muhammad Shah Jehan, the last Nawab of Dir and the son of Nawab Aurangzeb, the second Nawab of Dir and grandson of Nawab Muhammad Sharif, the first Nawab of the state. Nawab was the title used for the head of the state. Before the Nawabi era, there was Sardari (chieftainship) system in Dir. The people were divided in tribes and every tribe was ruled by a Sardar (chief). But there were no formal rules for the selection of Sardar. There was no written law or constitution. The people who lived in the district belonged to different castes, cultures and religions but often, they followed territorial laws and culture.

Different tribes have been living in Dir Upper. Major tribes among them are Paindakhel, Sultan Khel, Kadikhel, Wardag, Tajak and others. Almost all of them follow the same culture and traditions but there are some dissimilarities among them. The majority of the people in Dir belong to the Yousafzai Tribe but some other tribes like Gujjar, Roghani, Tajak and Wardag are also living here.

Nawab Shah Jehan tested different tactics against these simple-minded people to keep them backward and maintain his rule. He used to portray his people as barbarians to the British authorities. Suliman Shahid (2007) writes that whenever officials of the British administration visited the Nawab, he would present a strange picture of the people of the district before them. He would pretend his people as the most backward humans. This way he would hide the oppression and suppression of the people by him and maintain his rule. (Shahid, 2007).

Social Characteristics of Local Inhabitants

 The people of Dir are very conservative and traditional. They are Pashtuns and strong preservationists of their Pashtun culture and traditions. Actually, their culture and traditions are the code of conduct of their social life and they follow it as a strict law or principles. 

In 1523, the Yousafzai tribe and its allies conquered all the territories from Peshawar to Lowari, Dir. They divide these territories and made laws for them.  Hundreds of Pashtun Sardars (chiefs) are gathered at Katlang, Mardan, and presented a historical charter, named "Daftar" (Shah, 2007). Sheikh Mali Baba was leading that gathering. The charter “daftar” was a concise and composite document of the Pashtun culture and traditions.  It was made according to the Sharia and Pashtun culture. Some of the interesting laws of the charter were:

? Colour black the face of those who don't offer prayers.

? Thief were to be paraded on a donkey with a necklace of shoes around his neck.

? The heads of women, who eloped with someone, were to be shaved. 

? The houses of murderers were to be burnt and their assets were to be given to the victim’s family.




Cultural Profile

After the Katlang Charter of Sheikh Mali Baba, “Daftar”, the people of Dir and other neighboring regions followed the conventions of the charter. Afterwards, some new customary laws were developed from time to time in accordance with Sharia and local traditions. These cultures were developed by the Yousafzai Pathans and other tribes for more than 500 years and they served as the customary laws and constitution for them. Umara Khan of Jandul (1880-1895) for the first time imposed Sharia laws in Dir. After that first Nawab of Dir Khan Muhammad Sharif Khan and then the second Nawab Aurang Zeb imposed the Sharia laws. But it was a mere pretention of the Sharia and cultural laws because the rulers were exempted from following them. Suliman Shahid wrote in his book “Gumnam Reyasat” that Nawab Aurang Zeb loved a married woman and bought her from her husband Bawar Khan on Rs 3000 (Shahid, 2007). This was a blatant violation of the Sharia laws as well as the Pashtun culture and traditions. 

Nawab Shah Jehan established his own laws and developed a new culture. He showed himself as a strong protector of the Pashtun culture and traditions. He took the help of culture and Sharia, and adopted on those principles which used to be in his favor. When the culture or Sharia was not beneficial for him, he would replace him with his personal laws.

Some laws developed by Nawab Shah Jehan are as under:

? During the reign of Nawab Shah Jehan, the penalty for thefts was a fine worth Rs 50 and killing the thief was not considered as a crime.  

? If the husband of a woman was killed, Nawab's Officers known as Jamaldar or the constables would arrest the murderer and give a rifle to the widow of the slain person to kill him (the murderer) and avenge the death of her spouse.

? When a murder or theft case happened in a village, it was the responsibility of the entire people of the whole village to capture and handover the suspect to the government, otherwise they would have to pay Rs 1000 as a fine.

? The fine for murder was Rs 500 collected by the state. 

Nawab Shah Jehan suppressed the people and enslaved them mentally. He banned education in the state and the people were not allowed to go out of the state for any purpose. Public gatherings were also banned at any place in the state. If some people gathered somewhere in the state, the Nawab’s spy would inform him and he would seek an explanation from them. 

There were no trade and business in the Nawabi era, the only mean of livelihood of all people was agriculture. One can say that Nawab Shah Jehan had usurped all the fundamental rights of the life of the people in the state. The people of Dir were limited to the boundaries of the state and were not even aware of their basic human rights. 




Merger with Pakistan and Social-Political Transition

After the era of Nawab Shah Jehan, Dir was merged with Pakistan in 1969. But the traditions developed by the Nawab Shah Jehan for the people of Dir remained the same even after the merger. Most of the people were unhappy when the Nawab was arrested by the Pakistani government and his Nawabi was dissolved. They might have been happy for getting freedom from the stern rule and prisons of the Nawab, but they were not happy because they considered their Nawab their ruler and a Pashtun elder. Though he kept his people away from modern technology, education, economic development, social interactions and political participations, still the people if Dir had an attachment with him and they did not want to see him humiliated at the hands of the Pakistani authorities. 

Even after the merger, the people were against the reforms introduced by the government. Their opinion had been developed under the rule of the Nawab that education and the use of modern technology were against Pashtun culture and traditions. They considered the preservation of the so-called Pashtun traditions as the prime goal of life. It was their firm belief that the Pashtuns and specially the people of Dir can sacrifice their lives but they would never compromise their Pashtun traditions. Because of this belief, Nawab Shah Jehan kept on ruling them for 36 years.

The Nawab adopted the existing Pashtun culture and traditions and some parts of the Islamic Sharia to develop some new customs which later turned into the laws and judicial system of the state.  After the Nawab era, most of the people remained strong preservers and defenders of the local traditions. 

The Nawabs used to make contributions for the promotion of education elsewhere. But they were reluctant to allow the people of his district to go to school or college. Not a single educational institution could be established in the state during their rule, while they gave hefty donations for educational institutions elsewhere. Nawab Aurangzeb was one of the leading doners of the historic Islamia College Peshawar. He donated more than Rs 100,000 cash for the establishment of Islamia College. Apart from the cash donation woods and furniture was supplied from the forests of Dir for use in the construction of the college. However, he and his son Nawab Shah Jehan could not build even a single school in their state during their rule. They scared the people of Dir from modern education and economic development. This showed their reactionary character and unfriendly attitude towards local development. 

Even after the merger of the state with Pakistan, the establishment of the educational institution there was not an easy job as the people of the area were considering it against their local norms, tradition and culture. The schemes approved by the government for the promotion of education in the area had to face tough resistance from the local community. Subsequently, these schemes were canceled or relocated in other areas. Similarly, most of the people did not want to serve in government departments such as police, other forces and administration. They preferred to follow their old culture and live a simple life, cultivate their lands and rear animals. Later, the people started going to the Gulf countries for earning a livelihood to ease the life of their families. Somehow, people got developed and their lifestyle changed. The government also introduced some new reforms, established schools, hospitals and dispensaries, and gave jobs to local people. But introducing those reforms were not an easy task. Besides the simple Pashtuns, the Khans and Maliks (elders) of the area were also opposed to the reforms and developments, not because of the Pashtun traditions but because of their vested interests. 

Jirga in Dir was composed of the Khans and Maliks. They had been given the title by the Nawab to keep them appeased and they could get personal benefits of disputes of others in the name of resolving them. Jirga was promoted as a strong institution of the Pakhtun culture. In order to maintain their status as ‘Jirgamars’, those Maliks and Khans opposed education and socio-political development in Dir Upper. Jirga is a Pashtun council of elders for the resolution of disputes in the Pakhtun society (Yousafzay, 2019).

It can be analyzed that the Upper Dir has a largely ultraconservative culture and social character. Large-scale development in the social, economic, and political sphere could not be achieved due to the local cultural constraints and the indifferent attitude of the government of Pakistan and the provincial authorities after the merger of the state with the country in 1969. There has been little change in the culture of the district since then. 

During the course of this research study, data was collected from a large number of respondents. In depth interviewing, important questions were asked from the respondents about the main five areas of the study; (a) Education (b) Health (c) Economy (d) Social Welfare (e) Judicial Infrastructure.




Education

Education is the key to success. The people of Dir

Upper are very talented but unfortunately, they kept away from education during the era of Nawab Shah Jehan. After the merger of Dir state with Pakistan, proper attention could not be focused on the promotion of education. The people of Dir were deprived of getting formal education and development. However, the situation has changed drastically in recent years as the local populace have started breaking the shackles of cultural constraints and getting their offspring educated. If there was zero literacy rate in Dir Upper as per the 1981 national census, the rate surged to 21 percent in 1998. The threshold for literacy was fixed at the secondary school level. A person having passed his secondary school certificate examination would be considered as literate. The literacy rate has now increased to 42 percent with male literacy 64 percent and female 22 percent (Almanac, 2023). Sill a long way has to go to get up to the mark literacy rate especially among the female population. The majority of the people of the district are still reluctant to send their daughters and sisters to educational institutions owing to their conservative thinking and so-called Pakhtunkhwali. 




Economy

Most of the people of Dir Upper go abroad especially to the gulf countries like Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, and others to support their families. With the arrival of remittances from these countries, the economic conditions of the people have changed gradually. Agriculture is another source of earning of the people of the district. Some people also own and run private businesses. There is a good number of people doing jobs in the public or private sectors. The employment opportunities in the district are negligible. Therefore, people prefer to move to big cities of the country in search of economic means.

 Dir Upper is full of natural beauty. There are dozens of tourist spots that attract national and international tourists. But unfortunately, the people of Dir are not socially developed. They cannot take benefit of the scenic beauty of the district. Kumrat is the most beautiful tourist location in the district. Thousands of domestic and foreign tourists visit Kumrat valley every year. The number of tourists to the scenic valley will multiply if the concerns of the people visiting the area are addressed properly and the local population start behaving socially with tourists. Other scenic locations in the district are Jaz Banda, Saidgai Danda and Katora Lake. 

Dir Upper district is enriched with dense forests of precious trees. The wood of these trees is used for furniture and buildings. But unfortunately, the ruthless cutting of trees by the timber mafia has been fast depriving the local people of the benefits of the forests. The local inhabitants are not aware of the value of the forests. They have been resisting government control over the forests, which they think is against their traditional culture. 

Tourism will be the game changer of the people of Dir Upper if they know the art of attracting tourists and get government attention for the purpose. The scenic sites in the district need to be developed on the pattern of other tourist locations in the province and the country. The traditional conservativism of the people is seen as a hurdle in the development of tourism. People say that the tourists should to wear a full dress and follow the local traditions when they come to Dir Upper. They do not like male tourists roaming bareheaded. They also express objections over the attire of the woman tourists. 




Poor Healthcare System

Health is the most important factor which plays a key role in society. Better health improves the efficiency and productivity of a region or state. Good health can play a vital role in economic growth and lead to human welfare to maintain their manpower healthy. There is a strong relationship between poverty and poor health. The people in Dir Upper are unable to go to hospitals for treatment because of poverty and the condition of the few hospitals of the government which offer free healthcare remains rundown. The number of patients in the limited government hospitals keeps too huge to be provided proper attention. The most dangerous aspect of the episode is the false belief among the people that they are the least concerned about healthcare facility and they say good and bad health are from God and there was no need of treatment. They are either unaware of the latest developments in medical technologies or they consider it a curse instead of a blessing. The local people resistant the preventive measures against the spread of Covid-19 and avoided wearing masks and keeping safe distancing on the basis of their false beliefs. The worst affectees of the negligent attitude of the people are women. The number of female doctors in Dir Upper is very low. According to the PPAF report (2014), the situation in terms of child delivery is also miserable in the district. Child delivery at home is reported about 72 percent of households in rural areas and 65 percent of households in urban populations (PPAF, 2014). Scores of women die in pregnancy in villages because of the non-availability of maternity hospitals. Newborns mortality is also high in the district owing to the inaccessibility of maternity and childcare centers. The (PPAF, 2014) report show that there are only eight doctors, 12 nurses and 41 paramedics per 100,000 population in the district.

The people of Dir Upper do not accept easily the new invention in the medical field. If the government launches a campaign against viral and communicable diseases like polio, and coronavirus and immunization of children, the people refuse to take the vaccine and cast doubts on its efficacy and permissibility. 

Social Welfare System

The social welfare system helps individuals and families through different program such as food stamps, healthcare, unemployment allowance, housing assistance and child care assistance. In Dir Upper, many social welfare organizations work for the welfare of the people. They distribute food packages and other stuff among poor people. The people who work in welfare organizations are not considered good. The people of Dir Upper have their own definitions and belief about honour and prestige. They believe that “honour” is everything in the world and they prefer death for upholding their so-called honour. It is the so-called pride that prevents them from getting stuff from the welfare bodies despite their pressing need. They consider getting support from charity organizations as a threat to their prestige and therefore they prefer staying hungry, uneducated and underdeveloped over getting support from such organisations. However, the situation is fast changing due to education and awareness among the youth. They have the passion to put the district on the track of development. They know that it is only possible through education. Most of social welfare organisations have focused attention on promotion of education. 

Justice System

There are both formal and informal justice systems operational in Dir Upper. The formal justice system is led by the district and session court, while Jirga, Dispute Resolution Committee (DRC) and Police Station-level Musalihati Committee serve as organs of the informal justice system (PPAF, 2014). The popular justice system in Dir Upper is “Jirga” for conflict resolutions. The people of Dir Upper strongly follow the Jirga system instead of courts and kacheri. They do not believe in the formal justice system for dispute resolution.

Due to Pashtun's cultural domination over government policies, DRC are made by the government to resolve immediate issues at the district level. DRC look after major issues in the district and works in close coordination with the deputy commissioner. The forum is also utilised for the maintenance of peace and order in the district.

Women's rights are neglected in Dir Upper district and they are not allowed to visit any court or police station if they want to pursue their case. Women are mostly pressured by cultural constraints and a lack of awareness (PPAF, 2014). Women’s approach to courts or police station to pursue their cases is considered a big sin and a violation of the traditional culture. Women are kept away from courts, otherwise they will face punishment for “violating” the so-called Pashtun traditions. In many cases the punishment for this “violation” is the death sentence.

The ugly tradition of ‘Swara’ is still in vogue in some areas of Dir Upper and the government authorities are helpless to do away with it. ‘Swara’ is the custom of giving away a girl to the victim's family for murder dispute resolution in the Pashtun culture. KP Assembly through a unanimous resolution has sought for legislation against the ‘Swara’ custom, but a formal law could not be enacted for the abolition of the tradition so far (KP Assembly, 2021). 

Conclusion and Recommendations

At the time of independence of Pakistan, Dir was a separate state ruled by Nawab Shah Jehan Khan. It was merged with Pakistan in 1969. In 1996, Dir was bifurcated into two districts, Upper and Lower Dir districts. Dir Upper district is situated in the northern part of Pakistan in KP. The people of Dir Upper are simple and conservative. They cannot accept change easily. Dir Upper is not a developed district as compared to other districts of KP. In education, health facilities, economic stability and employment opportunities, social welfare and judicial infrastructure, Dir Upper is behind all other districts of the province.

The literacy rate in the district is low. The overall literacy rate is 42 percent and only 22 percent of the women are educated up to the secondary school certificate level. The women literacy rate is low because women education is not encouraged due to the local culture. From the early days, the people in Dir were deprived of education by their social and political elite to maintain their power. They purposely kept the local populace uneducated and backward. The healthcare system is very weak. Generally, people have to go to other districts for better health facilities. The poor people can hardly afford shifting their ailing relatives to other districts for treatment. A small number of doctors and other medical personnel are working for thousands of people. The situation in terms of maternal and child health is also miserable in the district. 

The district Dir Upper is not economically stable. Employment opportunities are negligible. Most of people depend on foreign countries and many are engaged with agriculture. There is no industry in the district where people can work and earn a livelihood.  The district has a great geographical and climatic importance in the region. There are a number of tourist sites in Dir Upper and many of them are very famous in the world like Kumrat, Saidgai Danda, Katora Lake, Jaz Banda and others. These tourist spots can change the fate of the people of Dir. But, tourism could not be promoted in an appropriate manner because of the traditional culture and conservative behaviors of the public. On the other hand, the people are not developed socially, therefore they cannot utilize the natural beauty of Dir as better income sources. The communication system and infrastructure are deplorable in the district. 

The justice system in the district is different and mostly based on non-formal local customs. Conflicts are mostly resolved through Jirga instead of the courts. In view of the rigid traditional culture, official dispute resolution councils have been formed on the pattern of a local jirga to resolve conflicts at the earliest with the coordination of district administration.

During this research study, it was found that Dir Upper is not a developed district in KP province. The people are conservative and they strongly believe in traditional culture, and they link their cultural traditions with Islam. Cultural constraints play a big role in the backwardness of the district. As in the deeply rooted patriarchal culture of Dir Upper, male members of the family are required to earn livelihood for the entire family. Education is not considered as a guarantee for earning a livelihood. Consequently, families usually discourage their children to go to schools and spend years in pursuit of education as time is considered precious for earning money. Despite being basic education mentioned as the fundamental right of all citizens of Pakistan, the same could not be provided to female in Dir Upper, because of local cultural restrictions. Therefore, public policies about education particularly girls’ education could not be implemented in Dir. Consequently, the district remains quite underdeveloped in terms of female education.

Economic and urban development policies of the federal and provincial governments could not be implemented in the district for socio-political uplift. The government’s recommendations in 2018 about educational reforms to recruit women teachers for primary school students. The opinion makers and elders in Dir Upper under the garb of cultural customs refused to accept government policies.

The government should promote and facilitate Elementary and Secondary Education in Dir Upper. It should build and operate primary and secondary schools in each and every village. It should set up more colleges in the district and improve infrastructure to ensure easy accessibility to educational institutions. There should be a Medical Collage and Engineering University in the district. Government should to improve the modern and digital education system in the district to change the traditional concept of the people about development. Lake of women education is a big issue in the district; therefore, the government should focus attention on establishing separate educational institutions for them. Government should award scholarships to students to encourage them to get higher education. 

Special attention should be focused on the economic situation in Dir Upper. Investors should be encouraged to set up industries in the district to create more employment opportunities. Tourism also needs to be promoted in the district. Better healthcare facilities should also be provided to the people of the district. The judicial infrastructure in the district is not up to the mark, which is required to be revitalized. Human rights violations especially women's rights should be stopped. Flexible policies regarding education, economy, health, social welfare, the justice system and political stability should be made and implemented to overcome the cultural taboos and put the district on track with development. 

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