A local leader of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) in a village of Rustam valley of Mardan has distributed burqas among schoolgirls.Union Council Palo Dheri Cheena Village Councillor Muzafar Shah and leader of the PTI purchased burqas worth Rs100,000 and distributed the full body veils free of cost to students of Government Girls Middle School Cheena.While talking to The Express Tribune over the phone, Muzafar Shah said: “I had decided to purchase chadors for the female students, but after consultation with local leaders, I bought the burqas.”A burqa costs Rs1,000, Shah added.The village councillor went on to say that his action was inspired by the recent notification of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) chief minister adviser on Elementary and Secondary Education Ziaullah Bangash directing girls to observe purdah.“I took the decision after the recent notification issued of our adviser on education to the K-P CM and the act is purely for the providing a secured education environment to the female students in the area,” he said.The K-P government had made it mandatory for female students of government-run schools to cover themselves up in the province’s educational institutions, Bangash had said in mid-September.The order was first circulated in Haripur district, where the district education officer asked all principals and headmistresses of public schools to ensure that girl students wear an abaya, gown or chador.However, hours after the administration made it mandatory for female students of government-run schools to cover themselves up, CM Mahmood Khan issued directives to withdraw the notification, saying it was issued without the government’s consent.