PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government is striving to increase the volume of the provincial development portfolio to over Rs1 trillion in the next four years, the cabinet was told here on Friday.

The chief minister, who chaired the cabinet meeting, said all development and welfare projects should be completed “on merit and in a transparent manner” within the stipulated time to achieve the desired results.

He directed cabinet members to review departmental performance regularly and actively oversee the progress of development initiatives in their respective districts and regions, according to an official statement.

The meeting was attended by cabinet members, chief secretary, additional chief secretaries, senior member of the board of revenue, and administrative secretaries.

Gandapur orders completion of projects on time, in transparent way

Highlighting the significance of sustainable development and employment generation, the chief minister said that those factors played a crucial role in the eradication of terrorism and ensuring long-term stability and peace in the province.

At the start of the meeting, officials briefed the cabinet about progress on development schemes designed under the title of Strategic High-Impact Flagship Targets.

They said those initiatives were dedicated to advancing inclusive, equitable, and sustainable development agenda, with a core focus on elevating the living standards of citizens, especially those in historically marginalised and underserved regions of the province.

The officials said currently, there were 51 projects of social, urban, economic and infrastructure development, environmental sustainability, governance and public administration and integrated sectoral approaches but more and more such projects would be continuously added to it with the passage of time.

They said the total financial worth of those schemes was Rs500 billion at the moment.

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

The chief minister said his government would make every effort for the development of the people in the merged tribal districts.

The cabinet also approved the inclusion of the non-ADP scheme in ADP 2024-25 for the “Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Solarisation of Houses Initiative” under which 130,000 households across the province will be solarised.

The solar scheme will be provided to the households through allocation in proportion to the population of the districts, according to the statement.

It added that one part of the scheme would be free for poor families, while the other part will be under bank loan partnership.

“This is a significant stride towards sustainable energy solutions designed to empower communities by providing them with clean, reliable, and renewable energy.”

The cabinet approved transfer and allotment of land for construction of a warehouse at Upper Chitral district.

The project is meant to strengthen the preparedness level and reach of the Provincial Disaster Management Authority at the time of emergencies in that far-flung area, according to the statement.

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 approved the appointment of chairperson and members to the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Commission on the Status of Women.

The cabinet accorded ex-post facto approval to the declaration of emergency in Hangu district to the extent of facilitating IDPs of Kurram tribal district.

The emergency was declared on Jan 22, 2025, limited to the handling of IDPs of Kurram district accommodated in the temporary camps in Hangu.

The cabinet approved amendments to the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Right to Information Act, 2013.

As per the decision, that Act’s sections 2, 6, 25, 26 and 32 are 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

citizens any opportunity of appeal against the orders passed by the Information Commission.

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

The participants approved the appointment of two private members of the Upper Swat Development Authority Board.

The chief minister directed authorities to submit a detailed report on the functional capacity and future business model of the woodworking centres of the Small Industrial Development Board.

Published in Dawn, January 25th, 2025