PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa cabinet on Tuesday approved the regularisation of the Special Police Force, establishment of seven child courts and dissolution of the Fata Development Authority.
Besides, the cabinet in a meeting, chaired by Chief Minister Mahmood Khan, took several other decisions. Talking to the media, Information Minister Shaukat Yousafzai said under the KP Special Police Officers (Regularization of Services) Act 2019, the officers of the special police recruited on contract or fixed pay on August 1, 2019 will immediately become permanent.
He said the extension of their contract was already approved from January 1, 2020 to June 30 this year. From July 1, 2020, he added a total of 9,618 special police officers will be made permanent and the move will cost Rs2.726 billion annually.
He said there is no danger of the coronavirus in the province, but measures were being taken to check it. “A special cabinet meeting will be called for it and experts will inform the government about the virus, he added.
The minister said the provincial cabinet approved the establishment of seven child courts at the divisional level to expedite the hearing of cases of crimes related to children. As a result, he said seven Additional District and Sessions Judges (BS-20) have to be appointed which will cost around Rs50 million annually.
“The purpose of this initiative is to reduce the number of crimes related to children and to punish the culprits after immediate hearing,” he added. The minister said the provincial cabinet approved sub-jail status for the judicial lockups in Tank, Swabi, Nowshera and Malakand and the establishment of a new judicial lockup in Besham.
The cabinet also approved the appointment of District and Sessions Judge Rajab Ali as judge of the anti-terrorism court Buner. Shaukat Yousafzai informed the media that the Integrated Water Resource Management Strategy was approved as well.
He said the strategy was finalized after consultation with approximately 200 international, national and provincial agencies and experts. “The strategy was developed by the Department for Planning and Development. After the merger of the tribal areas with the province, the number of people living in the rural areas of KP has increased,” he said.
He said the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) has agreed to invest in the province to provide more employment opportunities to the rural youth. In this regard, he pointed out that a project, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Rural Economic Transformation Project (RETP), has been developed that will cost US $100 million over the next six years. He added that $50 million will be provided by IFAD.
The minister said the cabinet approved the repeal of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Delimitation Local Council Act 2015. He said the name of Zafar Ali Shah as the regular Director General of the Peshawar Development Authority was approved.
The minister said Rs 35million and Rs30 million were sanctioned for maintenance of Chitral-Ayun-Bamburet Road, Chitral-Garam Chashma-Duraya Road and Chitral-Booni- Mastuj-Shandor Road and bridges.
The provincial cabinet gave approval to the establishment of Rescue-1122 Training Academy in Shah Kas in Khyber district. The cabinet approved the grant of Rs13.532 billion to cover damages suffered by the shopkeepers and petrol pumps owners in the light of the recommendations of the Special Committee on North Waziristan.
The provincial government has already distributed Rs4404.973 million to those who suffered losses after the demolition of the Miranshah Bazaar in North Waziristan. The minister said the cabinet gave approval to a supplementary grant of Rs450 million for the prevention and control of the spread of locusts in districts Dera Ismail Khan, FR DI Khan, Tank, FR Tank, Lakki Marwat South Waziristan and other districts of the province. The appointment of Yasir Imran as administrator Auqaf was approved.
The name of Law Minister Sultan Mohammad Khan was approved as the new chairman of the committee set up to decide the new lease agreement of the Serena Hotel. Shaukat Yousafzai added that the cabinet approved Kohat Division Development Project. The name of Zahid Abbas was approved as the ISRA member from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The position was vacant for some time.