PESHAWAR, Mar 01 (APP):Chief Minister Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Mahmood Khan Tuesday welcomed the relief package announced by Prime Minister Imran Khan and said that the announcement of such an historical package despite difficult situation has won the hearts of the masses and deserved appreciation.
The government, he said, would take further relief measures for the masses in the upcoming days which would diminish the propaganda of the opposition against the government.
Briefing media persons about the decisions of the 66th Meeting of the Provincial Cabinet held here at Civil Secretariat, which was attended by Cabinet Members, Chief Secretary, Addl. Chief Secretary, SMBR and administrative secretaries of government departments, the Special Assistant to Chief Minister Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Barrister Muhammad Ali Saif said that the provincial cabinet while keeping in view the ongoing revolutionary steps under taken for the uplift of the merged areas approved regularization of the remaining 630 project employees of the erstwhile FATA. It merits a mention here that thousands of project employees had already been regularized earlier.
He went on to say that the cabinet also approved the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Resolution of Commercial Dispute Bill 2021 to create conducive environment for promoting investment and businesses as well as resolve commercial disputes.
He said that the commercial disputes as well as heavy burden on civil courts, the litigation cases were taking years and a dire need was felt for enacting laws, which was approved by the provincial cabinet today. This step, he said, will greatly contribute towards promoting financial activities in the province.
Barrister Saif further said that the cabinet accorded approval to the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Stamp Paper Rules 2021 where under the procedure for issuance and depositing fee for e-stamp paper, verification and cancellation of e-stamp paper as well as the procedure for e-challan had been devised.
This step, he said, will not only facilitate the masses in obtaining stamp papers but also result in enhancing the revenue.
The provincial cabinet, the SACM said, also approved increasing the emoluments of the law officers including Addl. Advocate Generals, Assistant Advocate Generals and Advocate on Record to bring their allowances at par with the other provinces. The allowances which have been enhanced included house rent, Supreme Court fee, medical and telephone facility etc.
Saif said that the cabinet approved allowances equal to MP-II for Woman Ombudsman in the province. The provincial cabinet also granted approval to empower the Deputy Commissioners as Justice of Peace in the merged districts. With the provision of these powers, he said, the Deputy Commissioners of merged districts have been authorized to exercise certain powers of the police so as to ensure law and order in the merged areas.
The provincial cabinet also approved the issuance of NOC for Suki Kenari Hydro Power Project to erect tower, passing of transmission line and use of access road for construction of tower in Reserved Forests.
The provincial cabinet, keeping in view the best financial discipline and performance, approved Rs.50 million grants each for University of Peshawar and Abdul Wali Khan University, Mardan. Similar grant will also be extended to other public sector universities on best performance.
The cabinet also approved transfer of 10 kanal land to Fisheries department. The cabinet while endorsing establishment of Overseas Pakistanis Commission in the province decided to improve it further for which a cabinet committee constituted comprising Minister for Finance, Minister for Food and IT and Minister for Labour.
This will help in resolution of issues related to Overseas Pakistanis hailing from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The provincial cabinet also approved development budget of 2021-2022 presented by Provincial Highway Authorities for construction of Highways, Roads and Bridges in the province including merged areas. For the purpose, the cabinet also approved Rs.25921.052 million.
