KP govt to strengthen anti-corruption bodies

PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government would strengthen anti-corruption watchdog bodies on sound footing to provide quick and inexpensive justice to the people.

Briefing newsmen after the cabinet meeting presided by Chief Minister Mahmood Khan here on Thursday, the spokesman for KP Government Shaukat Ali Yousafzai said the provincial government would take tough decisions to ensure good governance and financial transparency to put back the matters of government affairs on the right track with main focus on retiring the huge debts obtained by the previous governments from time to time.

He denied the impression that the consumers have been overburdened due to the mini-budget. He said that only 10 percent burden of the mini-budget would be be borne by the ordinary consumers.

About granting citizenship to Afghan refugees, Shaukat Yousafzai said Prime Minister had proposed giving citizenship to the Afghan children born in Pakistan. However, he said the procedure and modalities to this effect would be discussed in the parliament. He said whatever decision taken by the parliament in this regard would be implemented in letter and spirit.

He said the cabinet also approved the transfer of land to the Pakistan Army for establishing a cantonment in Swat.

He said the provincial cabinet accorded approval to continuation of laws in the erstwhile Provincially Administered Tribal Areas Act 2010 and Nizam-e-Adl and other laws under Article 247 of the Constitution.

Shaukat Yousafzai, who is a former provincial minister and presently an MPA, said the cabinet approved acquiring 368 kanals more land for the 84 megawatts Mataltan Hydropower Project in Swat district.

He said the cabinet directed the Finance Department to arrange a supplementary grant for payment of Rs2926.971 million arrears for 117 development schemes.

He said the cabinet also approved shifting of delegation of powers of appellate court from the home secretary to additional secretary judicial.

The cabinet, he said, also approved establishment of Directorate of Drug Control and Pharmacy Services in health department to oversee service delivery in the provincial hospitals, manufacturing of medicines, sale, purchase and its standard or quality, adding that the staff for the new directorate would be drawn from health department.

He said the cabinet observed that the role of the Health Department has increased after the 18th Amendment in the provinces and powers have been delegated to the Directorate of Health Services KP.

The spokesman said the cabinet had also approved registration of publishers and printers of the holy Quran in the province.

The meeting also approved amendment into Services Act of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Employees of Transport Department Regularisation, which would pave way for regularisation of temporary employees of the transport department. It also approved appointment of three district and sessions judges as ATC judges and repatriation of two ATC judges to Peshawar High Court.

Regarding the recent increase in the street crimes, he said that the issue would be taken up with the IGP.

Handout adds: Chief Minister said, “We wanted a transparent system of governance. The NAB is now independent of political interference and therefore there was no need for the Ehtesab Commission in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. We would focus on the anti-corruption department to eliminate corruption in the province. He said that reforms were essential for administrative, policing, decision making and corruption free quality governance in the province.