The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Cabinet constituted a committee to look into the grievances of departmental officers and the Peshawar High Court’s directives to reduce the disparity in pay of departmental officers and other cadres. The Cabinet Committee consisted of the Advisor to the Chief Ministers of Finance, Minister/Secretaries of P&D, Establishment and Population Welfare.
The High Court, on a writ petition filed by more than 973 officials from various attached ministries, directed the government to redress the grievances of the petitioners regarding the grant of allowances allowed to officers of other cadres @ 1.5 times the basic pay in the light of Article 38(e). ) Constitution and policy principles as laid down in Article 29(2) and to remove inequalities/discrimination among civil servants.
The Ministry of Finance opposed the request due to lack of resources and financial crisis in the province. Its financial implications are estimated at more than 971 million rupees annually.
The Chief Secretary, Ministers, Advisers and Administrative Secretaries actively participated in the Provincial Cabinet which met on Wednesday evening under the chairmanship of Chief Minister Mr. Ali Amin Khan Gandapur. She made several decisions on the affairs of the province.
The Cabinet has approved the release of Rs 1.15 billion. as an Eid package for distribution among 115,000 poor individuals in the province at the rate of Rs.10,000/- per head/family. The families of police martyrs will also be part of the package, to whom the police department, which already has their details, will pay these amounts directly.
The Cabinet approved the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Right of Digital Way Policy providing a framework to facilitate the rollout of fiber connectivity through quick resolution of public and private right of way issues commonly faced by telecom operators leading to increased fiber connectivity. This makes Khyber Pakhtunkhwa the first province to have a digital right of way policy in line with the Federal Public Private Right to (Digital) Way Policy 2021.
A committee comprising Ministers/Secretaries of C&W, Irrigation and Local Government has also been constituted to adopt this policy in a uniform manner across the province.
Another committee has been constituted to categorize the recruitment of posts within 15 days for which ETEA or technical department/organization itself should take place.
Cabinet also directed that all provincial departments/organizations must obtain NOC from ETEA before conducting screening tests for recruitment through private organizations (other than ETEA).
The Provincial Cabinet approved the Zone Development Agreement for the Pakistan Digital City Haripur project. Pakistan Digital City Haripur is the first Special Technology Zone (STZ) in Pakistan developed by the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Information Technology Board under the administration of the Department of Science and Technology and Information Technology.
The project has already received a license from the Office of Special Technology Zones (STZA). With the cabinet’s approval of the agreement, various incentives can be extended to the zone developers, which will bring significant growth to their economy by improving their IT exports. The Cabinet also directed that construction work on the main offices and basic infrastructure must be completed expeditiously.
The Provincial Cabinet further approved the “Draft Rules for the Office of the Director General of PEDO and Members of the Executive Committee (Conditions) Rules, 2024”; a US$30,000 million loan from the Saudi Fund for Development (SFD) to participate in financing the infrastructure reconstruction of the Malakand region; retention of 100 BS-17 Head Nurses in MTI Hospitals in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa; and the purchase of various aids and equipment for the police in the newly merged districts. It also supported the earlier decision of the Interim Cabinet to increase the rate of Infrastructure Development Cess under Section -3 of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Infrastructure Development Cess Act. 2022.
The Provincial Cabinet also decided to re-align its position with the rest of the provinces regarding its share of repayment of the previously secured loan of US$88.673 million (out of a total secured previous loan of US$487 million) and take it up with the Council of Common Interest (CCI) in accordance with the agreement of the other provinces.
