partment district Haripur, Census 1996 & 2006 and Primary data

Haripur is at a distance of 125 km (Haripur town 164 km from Peshawar). Karakorum Highway separates from Peshawar – Islamabad road at Hassan Abdal, while Islamabad – Peshawar motor way could be taken via Burhan, Chach and Ghazi interchanges. Karakorum Highway runs across the whole district of Haripur, links the district with district Attock in the west and district Abbottabad in the east. Other main access roads are Hatar road (Haripur to Taxila), Khanpur road (Haripur to Taxila), Sirikot road (Haripur to Swabi and Attock), Jabri road (Lora to Murree) and Chapper road (Haripur to Durband Mansehra).

Haripur district remained a part of several reigns by different dynasties. In 1472 Prince Shahabuddin, a descendant of Amir Timur came to Hazara to lead Karlugh Turks legions left by Amir Timur in 1399, and formed a state known as Pakhli Sarkar in the area. The dynasty continued to rule the area till 1703. Gradually the ruling family was replaced by Afghan invaders i.e. Ahamd Shah and Duranis kept reins of the rule for several years. In 1992 army of Hari Singh Nalwa defeated Duranis and became ruler of the area. The town of Haripur (meaning Hari's town) was founded in 1822 by Hari Singh Nalwa. In 1849 the British Empire annexed the area that became a part of Pakistan in 1947. Haripur remained a Tehsil of district Hazara (1958-1979). As District Abbottabad was established, Haripur remained as its Tehsil till 1992, when Haripur was given the status of District. (Source: Wikipedia)

In Haripur, 90% HHs are involved in agriculture directly or indirectly but only 10% of them have sufficient food to fulfill their requirements, for the whole year, and they need to meet their other non food needs from other sources. Most of the farmers are small land holders. About 15% HHs have no land and earn their subsistence from daily wages. 30% HHs just have houses and 0.25 – 0.5 acre land. They have grains from their own land just to suffice for a month or two. They do on and off farm labor to support their HH economy. 55% HHs have 5-15 acre land including range lands and forests. They have sufficient grains for their own use. While some members of the HHs do government and private services and labor abroad to meet other non food needs. About 10% HHs have more than 25 acre land including range lands and forests. They sell surplus grains and vegetables/cash crops within the district and outside and do large scale business.

Census 1998 specified the employment by different professions as; Professionals 6.8%; Legislators, Senior officials & Managers 0.5%, Technicians 4.1 %; Clerks 4.5 %; Service and shop workers 13.3 %; Skilled agriculture workers 29.4 %; Craft and related trade workers 5.7 %; Plant and machine operators 6.4 %; Elementary occupations 28.3 %, Armed forces 1 %. Haripur city is the main trading center where most of the amenities of day to day life are available.

Haripur District is comparatively more industrialized than other districts in the Province. There are many large factory units i.e. Telephone Industries of Pakistan, NRTC (National Radio telecommunication Corporation), Best Way Cement and Pak-China fertilizers etc. Besides, Hatar Industrial State is situated in the district and provides thousands of people with labor. At the moment 150 units of different industries are operating in the district which provide employment to approximately 8,743 persons within and outside the district. Details of the industry in the district are as following;

Haripur Chamber of Commerce & Industry since its establishment in 1993 is playing pivotal role for flourishing and development of Commerce & Industry in the area. The Chamber is recognized by the Ministry of Commerce & Securities Exchange Commission of Pakistan. (Source: Industrial Development Office Haripur)

(Sources: Public Health Engineering and Soil Conservation Haripur & Primary data from the community)

There are many local NGOs, LSOs Cos and WOs in district Haripur, while many national and international organizations are also working, in collaboration with local organizations, in different sectors and geographical areas. A brief illustration of the major NGOs and their projects is as following;

Other Local NGOs include Badban Welfar Organization, Roshani and Mashal Development Organization. Besides, there are more than 60 local development / welfare organizations and societies registered with Social Welfare Department. (Sources: Social Welfare Haripur, PHKN and SUNGI)

The districts has one constituencies of national assembly i.e. NA-19, While it has four seats in provincial assembly i.e. PK-49 - PK-52. There are two tehsils viz. Haripur and Ghazi. In Haripur town and Kalabat town there are municipal committees. The district comprises 44 union councils, 137 village councils and 20 neighborhood councils.

Other departments in the district include Police, Excise, Works & Services, Laborer Welfare, Population Welfare, Pakistan Post and C&W etc. (Sources: Local Government and Visits to the departments)

District Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) is a district level setup of Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA). Assistant commissioner Haripur is working as District Disaster Management Officer (DDMO). Other staff has a joint office with Public Safety Commission at Deputy Commissioner Office. They are mostly working on requests for compensation of any disaster. Application is submitted from an affected, after verification it is forwarded to PDMA for sanction, once sanctioned by PDMA the application is forwarded to accounts section for payment. The Staff has been trained by PDMA, in collaboration with development agencies working on DRR, on Community Based Disaster Risk Management / contingencies plans.

The Revenue Administration is being headed by Assistant Commissioners. There are 83 Patwar Circles and 362 revenue villages and 2 Municipality charges in the District. Each Sub Division has Revenue set up comprising of Tehsildars and Naib Tehsildars who have a number of Girdawars under each. Each Girdawar looks-after the work of several Patwaris in his Circle. (Sources: Census 1998 & Primary data)