News Details

26/01/2018

Chief Minister Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Pervez Khattak presided over a meeting of the provincial cabinet that decided the sharing of responsibility for the investigation and control of narcotics in the province.

Chief Minister Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Pervez Khattak presided over a meeting of the provincial cabinet that decided the sharing of responsibility for the investigation and control of narcotics in the province. Under the approved amendments by the cabinet, Police, Excise, Taxation and Narcotics Control Department and Anti-Narcotics Force (ANF) would have a combined domain with shared responsibility to investigate and seize narcotics substance including Ice, Ecstasy, “Weed, Marwawa, and so on and these would be cognizable offence and would trigger severe punishment. The “draft Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Control of Narcotics Substance Bill 2017” is the first of its kind in the wake of 18th Amendment shaped up by provincial government to curb narcotics in the province. The draft would be communicated to the select committee as proposed asking for recommendation to be incorporated for the enactment of the bill from the provincial assembly. The cabinet meeting held here at the Cabinet Room of civil Secretariat was attended by provincial ministers, Chief Secretary, Addl: Chief Secretary and Administrative Secretaries. The cabinet took for debate a 12 point agenda, had a detailed discussion and made a number of decisions. The cabinet approved the procedure for the public sector employees as Moaveneen Hujjaj during the Haj phase. The procedure and deputational process would be worked out by the concerned departments. The chief minister recommended to have a complete transparency in the whole reputational process for nomination and selection on merit. The cabinet approved the enhancement in the minimum spending limit from 1 million to 1.5 million royalty of gas etc. in the producing districts and making district and Tehsil Nazims as members of the committee for petroleum social committee by the Energy and Power Department in the light of the advice of the Peshawar High Court. A nominee MPA of the Chief Minister would be the chairman of the committee. Nazim Village Council would also be part of the committee on project specific area. The chief minister directed to discourage illegal mining in Haripur and Nowshera and directed to regularize the whole process of stone crushing. The chief minister also directed to control the loss in the sand lifting from rivers and if there was a visible threat to river bridge then the whole process should be stopped. He asked the committee constituted under the Advisor to Chief Minister Akbar Ayub to firm up recommendations as early as possible. He directed for a just and uniform policy for marble industry and marketing and asked the quarter concerned to take curative measure for discouraging illegal mining etc. in Nowshera and Haripur and elsewhere. The provincial cabinet cleared conditionally Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Specific Relief amendment Bill 2018 to remove over-lapping the working of different departments. The cabinet also approved the framing of building control rules of the Galyat Development Authority to regulate the construction, remove encroachments, taxing the buildings, processing the site plan and its approval, the building plan, the height and available facilities in the building and the safety measures. There should be regulatory framework under the new rules. The chief minister called upon the concerned departments to replicate this model for Kaghan and Naran as his government has laid down a foundation for tourism related industry and the future of the province to earn maximum and support its fiscal engagements for rapid development. He also asked for details about the pace of progress on Ayubia Chair Lift. The chief minister directed that in the Open Katehry at District level`, the people should be informed of their rights and the services the government was providing to them. They would know that the RTI and RTS Laws would protect their rights and ensure their services. The RTI and Whistleblower would discourage malpractices and corruption and at the end of the day, the people would be the end beneficiaries. The chief minister directed to give legal cover to the Sehat Insaf Card a poor friendly initiative of his government for the provision of free health care to deserving upto Rs. 5 lac 50 thousand annually. He wished the continuation of this poor friendly initiative in future as well and indicated his government intention to extend its cover even further. The cabinet conditionally approved the creation of different tehsils throughout the province and asked the relevant quarters to move a summary for the creation of posts for onward manning in the new tehsils. At the moment, the Election Commission has banned the creation of new tehsils because of the delimitation. Once the delimitation processes is completed, the ban would be lifted and the new tehsils would automatically stand created. The news tehsils conditionally approved by the cabinet included Sub-Tehsil Shahpur in District Shangla, Sub-Tehsil Shakardarra in District Kohat, Sub-Tehsil Ranowal/Gali Abam in District Karak, Tehsil Harban Basha in District Upper Kohistan, Seo Tehsil in Lower Kohistan, Tehsil Kolai in District Kolai Palas Kohistan, Tehsil Ban Kund in Lower Kohistan, Dour Mera in Tor Ghar, Tehsil Panyala in District D.I.Khan, Tehsil Bakot in District Abbottabad, Oagi would be new district of Hazara Division, Besham would be sub-division of district Shangla and Tehsils Gadezai, Salarzai and Chugharzai would be new sub divisions of District Buner. The cabinet noted with pleasure that the government decision for the upgradation and regularization of government employees brought smiles on the face of poor salaried class. The government had an intention that it would raise the allowances of the Executive once it is enjoyed by other salaried class. The cabinet also appreciated the good gesture of executive class of the public servants for waiting so long as this province belatedly decided to allow the executive class of the public servant to have the same kind of allowance being availed by the executive public servants serving in other provinces. The cabinet approved the executive allowance to the Chief Secretary, IG Police, PAS, PCS and PMS groups. The cabinet took the lowest proposal recommended to the cabinet for approval. The officers working against any schedule posts would avail the executive allowance. It merits a mention here that provincial government previously upgraded 75722 employees of various pay scales and regularized 4743 contract employees of 53 projects. It also gave service structure to various government departments having poor upward mobility opportunities. The chief minister directed to follow the implementation of laws enacted by the provincial government but stranded somewhere. This should be followed in order to put on ground the improved governance and efficiency services. He also wished the extension of different laws specially the RTI, RTS, Whistleblower and other such laws to Malakand Division so that the fruit of these laws could also be availed by the people of Malakand Division.