PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa cabinet on Tuesday approved the draft KP Police (Amendment) Act, 2020, which fixes quota for the recruitment of assistant sub-inspectors in the province.

The cabinet’s meeting was chaired by Chief Minister Mahmood Khan and attended by ministers and administrative secretaries.

A statement issued here said under the proposed law, the regular quota of five per cent in the ASI recruitment had been fixed for the children of police martyrs.

Seniority of such recruits will be determined by the date of martyrdom of their fathers.

A 20 per cent quota has been reserved for graduate constables and head constables, who will pass the competitive examination of the KP Public Service Commission, 50 per cent for head constable on the recommendation of departmental promotion committee, and the rest for direct recruitment.

The cabinet also approved the Ehsaas Nashonuma Programme, which is meant to fight stunting among children, for Upper Dir and Khyber districts.

Withdraws health dept exemption from procurement rules

Under the initiative, food supplements will be given away to mothers and children for around two and a half years, while girls and boys will receive Rs2000 and Rs1,500 each after three months.

The cabinet approved the KP Power Crushers Rules, 2020, which provide mechanisms to renew licences and promote modern processing.

The new rules will be governed by a ‘clear’ mechanism and that power crushers will not be allowed to set up plants in urban areas up to 500 meters and in rural areas up to 300 meters.

The cabinet was briefed about wheat and flour supply across the province and was told that the supply of wheat was being increased to one million metric tons through Passco and import, while the daily quota of mills would be increased from 2,000 metric tons to 3,000 metric tons.

The cabinet approved a summary for the revocation of the health department exemption from the public procurement rules, which was granted due to Covid-19 pandemic.

It approved in principle the KP Local Government Coordination Unit Rules, 2020.

Under the rules, the authority for delimitation has been dissolved in line with the Supreme Court’s decision about the transfer of that power to the Election Commission of Pakistan.

The cabinet approved a proposal for the appointment of Justice Ijaz Anwar of the Peshawar High Court as a member of the labour appellate tribunal.

Also, 10 per cent increase was approved for the cost of the schemes to 15 per cent as according to the Planning Commission’s manual. It can be increased up to 15 per cent while the Financial Power Rules, 2018, has shown an increase of up to 10 per cent.

The cabinet also approved amendment to rules for the purpose in line with the manual of the Planning Commission.

The cabinet approved the appointment of the chief executive officer for the water and sanitation companies of Mardan and Kohat districts.

The chief minister asked departments to come up with plans within a fortnight to transfer staff members working on the same posts and stations for more than two years.

He said the transfer of officials should be made as field staff both provincial and district levels.

Mr Mahmood said the transfer of any official should be final and that any recommendation for readjustment on the same post should be discouraged.

He directed officials to prepare ‘black and white’ lists of personnel on the basis of performance, reputation and personal conduct.

“The administrative department should start taking action against the staff falling in the gray and black lists,” he said, adding that tehsildars and patwaris should be posted to own tehsils and areas.

The chief minister directed the departments to work on policy for e-transferring to bring about visible transparency in transfers and postings.

He congratulated the cabinet on the successful completion of his government’s two years and on the launch of Peshawar Bus Rapid Transit project.

Published in Dawn, August 19th, 2020