PESHAWAR, May 27: The provincial development working party (PDWP) has approved a proposal for the establishment of Khyber Medical University and a separate campus of the Khyber Medical College for girls with an allocation of Rs270.08 million , NWFP Health Minister Inayatullah Khan told reporters here on Thursday.

The minister said the PDWP had recently given the administrative approval of both the projects, and added that the works and services department was currently inviting tenders for the civil work on the projects, while specification of equipments at the department level was also in the last phases.

The chief minister had issued special directives to the works department to expedite the work on these projects, he said. Giving the details of allocation for both the projects, Mr Khan said Rs91.018 million had been allocated for the establishment of the medical university, while Rs179.062 for the girls campus.

He said the finance department, following the approval of allocated funds, had also sanctioned posts for both the projects, which include 108 vacancies of various cadres for the medical university and above 200 for the girls campus.

Similarly, he said, charter of the medical university had been reviewed by the provincial cabinet which had expressed some reservations over its draft. However, he added, the reservations had been removed as the law department had compiled a bill which would be presented before the Frontier Assembly upcoming session for approval.

About the work progress on both the projects, Mr Khan said in the last cabinet meeting, the chief minister had taken strict notice of the delay in civil work on the project and directed the department concerned to start the work within a month.

He said initially, a portion of the old PDA building had been hired for the girls campus of the KMC while a fully fledged building for the Women Medical College would be constructed later. The minister said work on both the projects was under way and it was expected that classes in the girls campus would begin by September next.