Swat situation tackled by timely measures: Saif

PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government on Tuesday expressed satisfaction over the measures taken by police and security forces for safeguarding the life and property of people.

The trust was put in the performance of the law-enforcement agencies at a cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Mahmood Khan that reviewed the overall law and order situation in the province. The chief secretary, the inspector general of police and other officials were in attendance, said a handout.

Special Assistant to Chief Minister on Information and Public Relations Barrister Muhammad Ali Saif later briefed the media on the cabinet decisions.

He said that the situation arising in Swat a few days back was effectively tackled owing to the timely measures taken by the law-enforcement agencies under the supervision of the chief minister.

“We assure the masses that there is nothing to worry about as the provincial government will maintain its writ in the province at all costs and no compromise will be made on the solidarity of the country, the safety of people as well as maintenance of peace,” he said.

The special assistant believed that reports about the deteriorating law and order situation on social media were fabricated.

He said the ceasefire with the proscribed Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) was intact as no major untoward incident had occurred that might have led to mistrust between the two parties.

He claimed that there were some groups which were inimical to the peace accord with the banned TTP and their involvement in terrorism-related incidents in the province could not be ruled out.

He informed that the cabinet approved increasing minimum wage to Rs 26,000 per month for different categories of workers working in all government industrial establishments of the province with effect from July 1 as per the announcement by the chief minister.

As regards non-governmental industrial units, the cabinet decided that the matter might be decided by the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Minimum Wages Board. He said the KP government, under the leadership of Mahmood Khan, was aware of the hardships faced by the labour community owing to the existing price hike and was taking all possible measures within the ambit of the available resources to provide relief to the poor.

He said the cabinet approved an extension in the tenure of Mukhtiar Khan of Usharai Dara in District Upper Dir for another two years as a non-official member of the Forest Development Corporation Price Committee to smoothly run the affairs of the committee.

The cabinet also accorded approval to declare the Bashqar Gol area of Upper Chitral in the Chitral Wildlife Division as a Biosphere Reserve under the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Wildlife and Biodiversity (Protection, Preservation, Conservation and Management) Act 2015. The cabinet approved the minimum support price of wheat at Rs 2,600/40kg as worked out by the Cost Production Committee.

He said the cabinet okayed the establishment of the Darul Aman Crisis Centre in the Working Women Hostel building in Hayatabad, regularization of employees of the District Governance and

Community Development, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Mines Rules 2022 and provision of 107 acres for the security fencing of the Mohmand Dam.

Referring to the demands of candidates for PMS and CSS exams, he said the cabinet referred the matter to the Provincial Public Service Commission for reviewing the PMS exam schedule that would enable the candidates to appear in both examinations.