PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government on Friday urged the federal government to consult with it and the provincial assembly before launching the proposed counter-terrorism operation Azm-i-Istehkam in the province.

It decided in a cabinet meeting to formally share a provincial assembly resolution on the matter with the federal government for implementation.

The July 19 resolution, adopted by a majority vote, warned that proceeding without provincial consent could prevent the offensive’s success and lead to adverse outcomes for which only the federal government would be responsible.

It also insisted that as declared by provincial Chief Minister Ali Amin Khan Gandapur and ruling Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf founder Imran Khan, military operations were no solution to terrorism as they never bore fruit and rather caused loss of public life and property in the country, especially in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Cabinet okays bill for zoonotic disease control

The cabinet met at the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa House in Islamabad with Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur in the chair, according to an official statement.

The participants included the provincial ministers, advisers and special assistants to the chief minister, chief secretary, senior member board of revenue, additional chief secretaries, and administrative secretaries.

The cabinet also approved the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Oversees Pakistani Commission Bill, 2024, for addressing grievances of overseas Pakistanis relating to government agencies.

The draft Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Zoonotic Disease Control Bill, 2024, was also laid before the cabinet.

The proposed law, meant to regulate and control the zoonotic disease in the livestock sector in the province and ensure safety to protect and improve the health of animals and human beings, the livestock, fisheries and cooperative department, was approved afterwards.

The cabinet also approved the proposed Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Animal Feed Stuff and Compound Feed Act, 2024.

Prepared by the livestock and fisheries department, the bill was aimed at regulating the manufacture, supply, storage, and transportation for the sale and marketing of feedstuff and compound feed in the province, according to the official statement.

The cabinet granted approval to the draft amendments to the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Birth Death, Marriages and Divorce or Dissolution of Marriages (Registration and Certification) Rules, 2021, as well as Rs500 million additional seed money, to be provided in two phases, for the province’s sports endowment funds.

The statement read that the available seed money of Rs120 million was insufficient to address the needs of players in the province.

The cabinet endorsed the transfer of the ownership of Cedar Golf Course property from Swat’s deputy commissioner to the sports and tourism department as well as the restoration of the annual development project for the improvement, widening and rehabilitation of the main Sadozai Hangu Road in Hangu district.

The participants also okayed the execution of the Peshawar Safe City project on a government-to-government basis in light of the KPPRA Rule 3(2)(c) and its Rs2.2 billion funding through a supplementary grant.

They hiked allocation for the Accelerated Implementation Programme scheme “Economic Revitalisation of the North Waziristan district Compensation for the Business Lost (Phase II) to Rs1.5 billion for the current financial year through a supplementary grant.

The cabinet relaxed a recruitment ban to create posts for employees of various categories in the health department whose services were regularised under Section 3 of the Regularisation Act 2021 and 2022 and in light of a Peshawar High Court judgement.

It also approved grants in aid for the registered press clubs and bar councils in the province.

Published in Dawn, August 31st, 2024