PESHAWAR: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ali Amin Khan Gandapur on Friday ordered incorporating operational costs of the province’s key social welfare initiatives – Zamung Kor, a model institute for state children, and Panagahs – into the regular provincial budget to ensure their long-term sustainability.

The chief minister, while chairing a meeting regarding affairs of Zamung Kor and Panagah projects, said that running such welfare programmes through grant-in-aid was not a viable solution, said an official statement issued from the chief minister’s secretariat.

The meeting was also attended by provincial cabinet members Syed Qasim Ali Shah and Muzammil Aslam, additional chief secretary planning and development Ikramullah Khan, and senior officials from relevant departments.

The meeting decided to establish additional Zamung Kor centres across various districts, and also set up such institutes for girls in Peshawar. It was decided that projects for Zamung Kor centres in the Malakand and Hazara divisions would be included in the upcoming Annual Development Programme.

The meeting also approved arrangement for a permanent building for the Zamung Kor centre currently operating in a rented facility in Dera Ismail Khan. It was also decided to recruit permanent staff for Zamung Kor centres and to upgrade existing Panagahs across different regions of the province.

Mr Gandapur instructed officials to address shortcomings in the functioning of Panagahs and ensure they were upgraded to state-of-the-art facilities in the next budget cycle. He also ordered immediate disbursement of pending salaries to Panagah staff.

Published in Dawn, March 22nd, 2025