KP cabinet approves Rs1.2bn for Bajaur displaced families

PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa cabinet has sanctioned Rs1,247.500 million for the Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) to provide food and non-food support to voluntarily displaced families affected by targeted actions against militants in Bajaur district.

The funds were approved at the 38th meeting of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa cabinet which met with Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur in the chair.

Cabinet members, chief secretary, additional chief secretaries, Senior Member Board Revenue, administrative secretaries and the advocate general Khyber Pakhtunkhwa attended the meeting.

Briefing media about the cabinet’s decisions, Adviser to Chief Minister on Information and Public Relations Barrister Muhammad Ali Saif said the meeting approved a wide range of initiatives covering rehabilitation and welfare, public health services, law and order, archaeology and tourism, forestation and amendments to various acts and rules.

A major development, he said, was the approval of the provincial government’s communication strategy in line with changing dynamics of media and the field of public relations in the province.

The cabinet sanctioned Rs1,247.500 million for the Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) to provide food and non-food support to families affected in Bajaur. The chief minister, he said, directed the officials concerned that the funds be released without delay, stressing that the government bore full responsibility for the care of displaced people, whether in camps or with host families.

In the security sector, he said, the cabinet approved the reconstruction of Malak Saad Shaheed Police Lines, construction of residential hostels for police personnel at Police Stations of Daudzai and West Cantt, and the establishment of five new police stations and eight police posts in District Peshawar under a non-ADP scheme worth Rs3,625 million. Additionally, four kanal land was allotted for a new police station in Akbarpura, Nowshera. It further approved declaring the newly constructed sub-jail in Swabi as District Jail and shifting 165 posts to operationalize its newly built section, enabling transfer of prisoners from the old, dilapidated facility.

In the health sector, the cabinet approved the enhanced cost for upgradation of RHC Oghi to Category-D Hospital in Mansehra; the fund flow mechanism for outsourced health facilities; and a grant of Rs10 million for Rukhsana Mother and Childcare Trust Hospital. It also approved Rs9.5 million for the celebration of Kalash and Baha’i community festivals.

For urban transport, the cabinet approved the procurement of 50 additional buses for BRT Peshawar.

Highlighting the flagship eco-tourism initiative of the province, Barrister Saif said the cabinet approved the establishment of the country’s largest Safari Park in Nowshera by transferring 560 acres of land to the Wildlife Department.

This, he added, would provide a unique eco-tourism destination while simulating natural habitats.

In another landmark decision, he said, 14,718 acres of barren land in Bund Piru, Tank, were transferred to the Forest Department for conversion of the barren land into forest in the first phase and wildlife conservation in the second.

The cabinet approved the transfer of the historic portion of Chashma Rest House in Dera Ismail Khan from the Irrigation Department to the Archaeology Department for preservation and opening as an archaeological site.

The meeting sanctioned establishment of a Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Arts and Crafts Display Centre at the Small Industries Development Board Plaza in Islamabad.

The cabinet enhanced the share of Net Hydel Profits (NHP) for developmental activities in districts hosting dams from 10 percent to 15 percent. A cabinet committee was formed to finalize Terms of Reference (TORs) for the distribution and utilization of NHP funds, reflecting the province’s increased share following successful deliberations with the federal government, he said.