PESHAWAR, Feb 18: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government has allowed health and education departments to purchase furniture from the market after Small Industrial Development Board expressed its inability to ensure supply of the same to the public sector in the province.

This was decided in a provincial cabinet meeting held here on Monday, which was presided over by Chief Minister Amir Haider Khan Hoti. Giving details at a press briefing, information minister Mian Iftikhar Hussain said that owing to lack of capacity and workload the SIDB was unable to ensure timely supply of furniture to public sector across the province.

Therefore the cabinet decided to exempt education and health departments from purchasing furniture from SIDB centres. He said that cabinet allowed both departments to purchase furniture from the open market.

He said that the SIDB machinery had become redundant while its expansion and renewal required billions of rupees. Now these departments could procure furniture from the SIDB and local market, he added.

The minister said that it was likely to be the last meeting of the provincial cabinet which discussed a host of issues.

The outgoing cabinet had taken a total of 528 decisions of which 508 had been implemented while the remaining decisions were in process, he added.

The cabinet approved The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Food Safety Authority Bill, 2013, which would be tabled in the next session of the provincial assembly. He said that fertilizers control amendment bill and agriculture, livestock produces market (amendment) act were also tabled before the cabinet. However the cabinet was informed that there was no need to pass these draft bills after approval of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Laws Amendments Act 2011.

Mian Iftikhar said that establishment of Institute of Peace and Conflict Management also came under discussion in the meeting.

In this regard a committee headed by secretary higher education was set up which would present its final summary to the chief minister for approval.

He said that the cabinet approved enhancement in penalty for firing in the air. After approval proposed maximum punishment was one year with Rs50,000 fine and minimum one month with Rs10,000 fine.

Similarly the cabinet also approved compensation package for heirs of the deceased killed in natural disasters. The victim families would get Rs100,000 each for the dead while Rs75,000 for loss of any major body part.

The cabinet also gave approval of naming Children Hospital after Bashir Ahmed Bilour the foundation stone of which had been laid by the chief minister last week. The hospital will cost Rs2.2 billion.

The 200-bed hospital will be the first of its kind to offer all specialised services to the children, he said. The hospital is being built at over 20 kanals adjacent to the Khyber Institute of Child Health at Phase 5 Hayatabad and it will start operations in the next two years.