Local elders of Shahtoot, Bisham held a Jirga after the Friday prayers in the village council and pledged to boycott those shopkeepers who sell sub-standard snacks and chips to children due to which they fell ill.
The Jirga was called by the local elders followed by an outbreak of children illness in the area for which they had announced the meeting at mosques.
Afzal Khamosh, one of the Jirga participants told The Northern Post that local elders, including the religious clerics, Bilal Ahmad, Doctor Najibullah, Abdul Wahid, and others spoke at the meeting.
The speakers said that whenever they take their child to the doctor, their first question is always about the foods the child consumes and they termed the illness caused by consuming sub-standard snacks and chips.
They claimed that they witnessed a number of vehicles bringing snacks from Thakot, Swat, Mansehra, and other areas to the villages, and children consumed it in the absence of their parents even in the schools.
The Jirga participants after consultation came to the conclusion while constituting a committee headed by Dr Najibullah to reach out to all the shopkeepers and warn them to avoid bringing these sub-standard foods otherwise all the area inhabitants would boycott them socially and would not buy commodities from them.
The sub-standard snacks had also been formally banned by the district administration two weeks and instructed the local authorities to take strict action against violators.
Ban imposes on sale of substandard snacks, chips in Shangla
