PESHAWAR: Chief Minister Mohammad Sohail Afridi on Friday directed the authorities concerned to immediately begin the distribution of solar systems to the poor households under the Provincial Households Solarisation Initiative.

He issued the directives while chairing a progress review meeting on the project at the Chief Minister’s House here.

He emphasised that all the procedural and administrative requirements must be completed without delay, according to a statement issued from the chief minister’s secretariat.

Mr Afridi said the flagship initiative of the provincial government was aimed at providing relief to the deserving households, and directed its timely implementation.

The chief minister noted that the government was investing substantially to improve service delivery and facilitate citizens, and stressed that the benefits of such initiatives must reach the intended beneficiaries without delay.

The chief minister directed that unnecessary delays in the documentation and processing of public welfare projects must be avoided.

The participants were briefed on the progress made so far on the solarisation initiative. Under the project, a total of 130,000 deserving households across the province, including the merged districts, would be provided with solar units. The meeting was informed that 65,000 households would receive solar units free of cost, while another 65,000 households would be provided solar systems at half the cost through easy instalments.

The meeting was further informed that the PC 1 of the project had been prepared and would be presented for approval in the upcoming meeting of the Provincial Development Working Party (PDWP).

The participants were also briefed on the progress made on a separate solarisation initiative for the merged districts under the Accelerated Implementation Programme, which would benefit 120,000 deserving households.

It was noted that the project for the merged districts would be presented before the provincial cabinet in its forthcoming meeting for final approval as a non-Annual Development Programme scheme.

It was highlighted that all the districts were being allocated share in proportion to their population under the solarisation initiative.

The meeting informed that priority would be given to widows, persons with disabilities, temporarily displaced persons, households affected by natural disasters, other vulnerable segments of society, and off-grid areas.

Published in Dawn, March 7th, 2026