PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa cabinet on Wednesday approved a proposal to increase the amount of compensation for the people, who lose life or whose houses are damaged during natural disasters.

The cabinet met here with Chief Minister Mahmood Khan in the chair and ministers and administrative secretaries in attendance.

Labour minister Shaukat Yousfzai later told reporters that the cabinet approved an increase in compensation for the families of those killed in natural disasters from Rs0.3 million to Rs0.8 million each and for those with damaged houses from Rs0.1 million to Rs0.4 million each.

He said that the cabinet also approved the continuation of subsidy on wheat flour (atta) for the entire year to the relief of the people.

Cabinet also okays flour subsidy for entire year

The minister said the government was spending Rs35 billion on that subsidy.

He said that a sufficient stock of flour was available in the province, while more than 200,000 flour bags weighing 10 and 20 kilogrammes were provided to the people daily.

Mr Yousafzai said that flour quota would be increased to 250,000 by Aug 15.

He said that the cabinet also discussed the admission policy for seats reserved in medical and dental colleges for candidates from tribal districts in line with the orders of the Peshawar High Court, and decided not to change it.

The participants approved the extension of the tenure of three members of the KP Child Protection and Welfare Commission, for three years.

The members, who were appointed in April 2019 for three years, include MPAs Pir Fida Mohammad and Sumaira Shams and Islamic scholar and chief cleric of Masjid Angoor Wali, Qissa Khwani Bazaar, Peshawar,Dr Abdul Ghafoor.

The cabinet also approved an additional amount of Rs39.55 million forPackage I under the revised PC I for the construction of 1,320 flats at the PHA Housing Scheme in Jalozai area of Nowshera district under the Prime Minister’s Naya Pakistan Housing Programme and Rs.818.668 million for the entire project. It also accepted a proposal for the allocation of Rs4.30 billion as non-ADP scheme for the designing and construction of irrigation channels of Mohmand hydropower project.

The minister said that the project would get Rs200 million funds in the current year and would irrigate around 16,000 acres of land besides generating 800 megawatts electricity.

The cabinet also approved the declaration of flood emergency in Tank and Dera Ismail Khan districts.

The chief minister said that if the need arose, the relevant deputy commissioners should process cases for flood emergency to ensure the immediate start of relief and rehabilitation activities.

The cabinet also approved the provision of land for setting up Rescue 1122 stations in Paharpur tehsil of Dera Ismail Khan district.

The chief minister directed the relevant authorities to initiate a full-fledged crackdown on encroachments in flood-affected districts and open all blocked roads immediately to the relief of the residents.

He also ordered the opening of Rescue 1122 stations in mineral-rich districts to rescue mine workers during emergencies.

Published in Dawn, August 3rd, 2022