KP govt raises upper age limit for PMS exam by 2 years

PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government on Wednesday raised the upper age limit for the Provincial Management Services (PMS) examination by two years as the last year’s test was delayed due to corona pandemic.

The cabinet also approved the appointment of vice-chancellors for seven public sector universities.

The decisions were taken at the cabinet meeting presided over by Chief Minister Mahmood Khan, said an official handout.

The chief minister directed the officials concerned to take necessary steps to fix the maximum age limit for each category of government jobs so that the candidates don’t have to visit the offices for seeking age relaxation.

He directed the officials concerned to ease restrictions by relaxing rules and regulations to facilitate investors in the province and create job opportunities for the youth.

The appointment of vice-chancellors was approved for seven public sector universities for a period of three years.

Those whose names were approved included Prof. Dr Gul Majid Khan for Islamia College University Peshawar, Prof. Dr Amin Badshah for University of Buner, Prof. Dr Zahir Shah for Chitral, Prof. Muhammad Jahanzeb Khan for Fata University, Prof. Dr Ghazala Jamal for Women’s University Mardan, Prof Dr. Zia-ul-Haq for Khyber Medical University Peshawar and Prof. Dr Nasir Jamal Khattak for the Swabi University.

The chief minister directed the Cabinet Committee, set up to streamline matters related to private testing agencies, to finalize its recommendations at the earliest.

He directed that tests conducted by private testing agencies for the recruitment of government employees should be confined to the screening of candidates only.

Mahmood Khan directed the committee to prepare recommendations for strengthening the government testing agencies, especially the Public Service Commission, so that the long-pending vacancies in the Public Service Commission could be filled as soon as possible.

He directed the officials to take necessary steps to utilize the unused land of the Golf Course in Kabal area of Swat district for construction of a park and other development projects.

The cabinet constituted a committee headed by the law minister to improve the rules for the prevention of vagrancy. It approved the appointment of 11 non-official members for the KP Commission on Status of Women.

The cabinet okayed certain necessary amendments in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Medical Transplantation Regulatory Authority Act to fix a minimum fine of Rs5 million and a maximum of Rs10 million for illegal transplantation of human organs with imprisonment of 14 years.

It approved the model by-laws for setting up fruit and vegetable markets in the province and tasked the minister for local government to improve these by-laws.

The cabinet approved the reinstatement of the Provincial Levies Force Rules 2013 with some necessary amendments to remove complications in the age limit for the retirement of Levies personnel in the province and the removal of complications hindering their promotions.

It gave the go-ahead to the purchase of seven to eight million metric tons of wheat from PASSCO to meet the wheat demand and the import of two to three million metric tons through the Trading Corporation of Pakistan.

The cabinet recommended to the federal government to allow the private sector to import sugar and to ensure regular supply of the commodity to the Utility Stores across the province.

It approved the nomination Dr Efat Ara and retired Major Dr Abdul Hafeez Khan Niazi from the civil society as the private members of the Board of Governors of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Higher Education Academy Research and Training.

The cabinet formed a committee comprising Finance Minister Taimur Saleem Jhagra and Education Minister Shahram Tarakai for the proposed allowance of the Education Monitoring Authority.

It directed the officials to prepare recommendations for the extension of the lease period of government lands. The lease of government lands will be increased from 15 years to a minimum of 33 years and a maximum of 99 years.