PESHAWAR: Chief Minister Mahmood Khan on Monday said he had honoured the promises made with the people of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa four years ago.
He was speaking at the oath-taking ceremony of the Peshawar Press Club office-bearers at the Chief Minister’s House.Mahmood Khan distributed provisional allotment letters among the office-bearers of the Peshawar Press Club. The journalists will receive 10-marla plots of land at the newly launched mega housing project, New Peshawar City.
He also announced an increase in Journalists Welfare Endowment Fund from Rs128 million to Rs200 million and a Rs30 million special grant for the press club.The chief minister said that Prime Minister Imran Khan would soon share a good news with the public and give them relief in the face of inflation, which he termed “imported inflation”.
The chief minister said he had made a commitment with the journalist community a few years ago to set up a media enclave in the new housing project, New Peshawar City and allocate
residential plots to all 564 members of the Peshawar Press Club.
“I am happy that I have fulfilled my commitment with you. We encourage the freedom of speech and welcome our journalist brothers and sisters to help us identify our shortcomings as we are humans and can commit mistakes,” Mahmood Khan told the journalists.
The chief minister said he was aware of the problems being faced by the journalists and spoke about a number of initiatives his government had taken for their welfare.On the demand of Peshawar Press Club President M Riaz, the chief minister announced an increase in Journalists Welfare Endowment Fund from Rs12.80 million to Rs200 million and in addition approved Rs30 million special grant for the press club.
The chief minister agreed with M Riaz and announced two scholarships for the working journalists in the Journalism and Mass Communication Department of the University of Peshawar in the name of widely known and respected journalist late Rahimullah Yusufzai and founding chairman of the Journalism Department in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Hafiz Sanaullah.
Mahmood Khan remembered them in the best possible words and appreciated their services for the country and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. He said the scholarship was a small effort to recognise the services of the late senior journalists.
The chief minister said they had introduced good governance in the province and followed the vision of their leader Prime Minister Imran Khan of investing in people.“Apart from this current wave of inflation that has affected the entire world, the other political parties can’t compete with us in governance and service delivery. The previous rulers plundered the national exchequer while Prime Minister Imran Khan spent on people’s lives and set an example for others,” he explained.
Mahmood Khan didn’t mention but apparently meant the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) and Swat Expressway when he said that he had inherited some incomplete projects when he took over the provincial government but accomplished them successfully, saying many other projects were nearing completion.
He said he had extended the rescue services to all subdivisions of the province and the merged districts.The chief minister spoke about various projects that his government had successfully completed, saying the Fata merger was a major success of his government.
He said the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf government for the first time in the history of the province presented a historic budget of more than one trillion rupees and released cent per cent development fund at the very beginning of the financial budget as per its promise.
Besides the BRT project and Phase-1 of Swat Expressway, other projects including Rashakai Economic Zone and Extension of Sehat Card Schemes to 100 per cent population of the province are some achievements of his government.He said the KP government during the recent Dubai Expo 2020 had signed 44 different MoUs worth eight billion dollars with foreign companies and they would like to come and invest in the province.
Mahmood Khan the province had limited resources but his government mostly focused on important sectors including energy, tourism, agriculture and mineral, and all these sectors had huge potential for revenue generation.He said the government focused on producing solar energy and solarised schools, hospitals and mosques under the clean and green energy initiatives of the province.
He said the government has become the first province of the country to have its food security policy under which a number of initiatives have been proposed to increase the food basket of the province.
He added that there has been a good deal of the progress on Chashma Right Bank Canal Project to bring thousands of acres of barren land under cultivation in southern districts with the aim to make the province self-sufficient in agriculture products.
The chief minister terms Sehat Card Plus Scheme as a flagship project of his government and said that under the schemes hundred per cent population of the province was getting free treatment facilities, adding that free kidney and liver transplants were covered under the scheme.