CM wants all uplift projects completed in time

PESHAWAR: Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur on Friday called for the completion of all development and welfare projects within the stipulated time.

He issued the directives while chairing the provincial cabinet meeting which was attended by members, the chief secretary, additional chief secretaries, Senior Member Board of Revenue and administrative secretaries, said a handout.

The cabinet was told that the KP government was targeting to jack up the volume of the Provincial Development portfolio to over Rs one trillion within the next four years.Terming the allocation of funds for the Annual Development Programme (ADP) as exemplary, the chief minister emphasized that priority should be given to high-performing projects to ensure maximum public benefit.

He instructed cabinet members to regularly review departmental performance and actively oversee the progress of development initiatives.The cabinet was briefed about the progress on development schemes arrayed under the title of Strategic High-Impact Flagship Targets (SHIFT).

It included 51 projects of social, infrastructure and urban, economic development, environmental sustainability, governance and public administration and integrated sectoral approaches but more and more such projects will be continuously added to it with the passage of time. The total financial worth of these schemes is Rs500 billion at the moment.

The cabinet conditionally approved the extension of Special Forum till June, 2027, subject to the release of funds by the federal government, in order to ensure optimum oversight and effective management of the ongoing and recently approved projects under permanent reconstruction.

The permanent reconstruction project was aimed at rehabilitating the Temporary Displaced Persons (TDPs) in merged districts.The chief minister emphasized that his government will make every effort for the uplift of the people of the merged districts. The cabinet approved the inclusion of non-ADP Scheme in ADP 2024-25 for project “Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Solarization of Houses Initiative”. Under the project 130,000 households across the province will be solarized.

The solar scheme will be provided to the households through allocation in proportion to the population of the districts. One part of the scheme will be free for poor families while the other part will be under bank loan partnership.

The cabinet approved transfer / allotment of land for construction of a warehouse at Upper Chitral district. The purpose of the warehouse construction is to strengthen the preparedness level and reach of the Provincial Disaster Management Authority at the time of emergencies in that far-flung area.

The cabinet approved the transfer of possession of state land to the Sports and Youth Affairs Department for the establishment of Jawan Markaz in Upper Chitral and Charsadda districts.It also okayed the appointment of the Chairperson and Members of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Commission on the Status of Women.

The cabinet accorded ex-post facto approval to the declaration of Emergency in district Hangu to the extent of facilitating the TDPs of Kurram District there.

The emergency was declared on 22nd January limited to handling of TDPs of district Kurram accommodated in the temporary camps at Hangu.

The cabinet approved amendments to the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Right to Information Act 2013. As per the decision, sections 2, 6, 25, 26 and 32 of the Act were amended to make it more effective and to ensure that the citizens have improved access to information held by public bodies and to make the government entities more accountable to its people, besides affording the citizens any opportunity of appeal against the orders passed by the Information Commission.

The cabinet approved amendments to Section 11 of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Control of Narcotics Substances Act, 2019 and referred amendments in Sections 2, 9, and 22 of the said Act to the already constituted committee for deliberation and submission of recommendations to the cabinet.