PESHAWAR: As prices of wheat surge due to flash floods in Punjab, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa cabinet has been informed that the province’s stock position remains satisfactory and any decision regarding wheat procurement will be taken in line with evolving requirements.
The cabinet was told this during its meeting held with Chief Minister Ali Amin Khan Gandapur in the chair, said the chief minister’s aide on information and public relations, Barrister Muhammad Ali Saif. He said that the meeting was also attended by cabinet members, chief secretary, additional chief secretaries, senior member board of revenue, administrative secretaries and KP advocate general.
According to Mr Saif, the cabinet also approved raising minimum wage from Rs36,000 per month to Rs40,000 per month for adult, unskilled, juvenile and adolescent workers besides approved enhancing share of net hydel profit (NHP) for developmental activities in districts hosting dams, from 10 per cent to 15 per cent.
Mr Saif in a press release that during the meeting, a cabinet committee was formed to finalise Terms of Reference (TORs) for distribution and utilisation of NHP funds, reflecting the province’s increased share following successful deliberations with the federal government.
Cabinet expresses satisfaction over wheat stocks
The cabinet sanctioned Rs1,247.500 million for Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) to provide food and non-food support to voluntarily displaced families owing to targeted operations against terrorists in certain villages of Bajaur district.
“The chief minister issued directions that the funds should be released without delay. He stressed that government bears full responsibility of care of displaced people, whether in camps or with host families,” Mr Saif quoted the chief minister as saying during the meeting.
He said that the cabinet approved a wide-range of initiatives covering rehabilitation and welfare, public health services, law and order, archaeology and tourism, forestation and amendments in various Acts and rules.
“A major development was the approval of provincial government’s communication strategy in line with changing dynamics of media and field of public relations in the province,” he said.
Mr Saif said that the cabinet approved reconstruction of Malak Saad Shaheed Police Lines, construction of residential hostels for police personnel at police stations of Daudzai and West Cantonment, and establishment of five new police stations and eight police posts in Peshawar district under a non-ADP scheme worth Rs3,625 million.
He said that four-kanal land was allocated for a new police station in Akbarpura, Nowshera. He said that the cabinet also approved declaring the newly-constructed sub-jail in Swabi as district jail and shifting 165 posts to operationalise its newly-built section, enabling transfer of prisoners from the old facility.
He said that the cabinet approved enhanced cost for upgradation of rural health centre in Oghi to Category-D Hospital, the fund flow mechanism for outsourced health facilities and a grant of Rs10 million for Rukhsana Mother and Childcare Trust Hospital. He added that Rs9.5 million was approved for celebration of the festivals of Kalash and Baha’i communities.
Mr Saif said that the cabinet approved procurement of 50 additional buses for BRT Peshawar. He said that the cabinet approved establishment of the country’s largest safari park in Nowshera by transferring 560 acres of land to wildlife department.
He said that 14,718 acres of barren land in Bund Piru, Tank, was transferred to forest department for its conversion into forest in the first phase and wildlife in the second phase. He added that the cabinet also approved transfer of the historic portion of Chashma Rest House in Dera Ismail Khan from irrigation department to archaeology department for preservation and opening it as an archaeological site.
The meeting sanctioned establishment of ‘KP arts and crafts display centre’ at Small Industries Development Board Plaza in Islamabad. Legislative approvals include KP Healthcare Commission Rules of Registration and Licensing, 2024, amendments in Rule 04, Sub Rule (II) of KP Commission on the Status of Women Rules, 2017, and KP Stamp (Amendment) Act, 1899.
Additional approvals include handing over a government-owned building for establishment of a Nadra office in Dera Ismail Khan on a rental basis, sanctioning MBS-II remuneration for provincial ombudsman under KP Ombudsman Act, 2010, and Rs6 million for kidney transplant of a patient belonging to Dera Ismail Khan.
Published in Dawn, September 8th, 2025
