PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa cabinet on Tuesday reversed the last elected government’s move to upgrade over 130,000 positions of schoolteachers in the province.

“The decision of the cabinet meeting, held on Jan 17, 2023, for the upgradation of various educational cadre employees in the education department has been withdrawn in view of legal and administrative anomalies identified by the finance department,” read an official statement issued here after the cabinet’s meeting chaired by Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur.

The cabinet of former CM Mahmood Khan had approved the upgradation of primary teacher posts from BPS-12 to BPS-14, benefitting 51,736 teachers across the province. It also gave the go-ahead for the upgradation of other educational cadre positions to benefit 18,000 teachers in BPS-14, 21,300 in BPS-15, over 22,000 secondary school teachers in BPS-17, and certified teachers in BPS-15.

The official statement also revealed the approval of the proposed KP Livestock and Poultry Production Act, 2024, by the cabinet for presentation in the provincial assembly for consent.

Calls for recalculation of province’s share in new NFC Award

After the law’s enforcement, the fisheries and cooperative department will be able to register and regulate the livestock and poultry production activities in the province.

The cabinet also approved the KP Animal Welfare Act, 2024, to “prevent the infliction of unnecessary pain to animals and set standards regarding humane handling, treatment and transportation of animals in the province.”

The participants also granted approval to the proposed KP Livestock Breeding Services Act, 2024, for “regulating livestock breeding services, improve the genetic potential of breeds and protect indigenous breeds of livestock and to provide for improvement, control, marketing and quality assurance of livestock in the province.”

The cabinet approved recommendations for inclusion in the “position paper” for the upcoming National Finance Commission Award.

Noted among the recommendations was the start of the “10-year Pakistan Building Grant, sourced from the federal divisible pool, to address significant financial needs and development deficits that have accumulated since the announcement of the 7th NFC Award.”

The cabinet called for an interim adjustment to bring the 7th NFC Award into compliance with the Constitution, recommending that KP share in the new award be recalculated to include the population and area of the merged tribal districts in the province.

It approved a grant-in-aid of Rs326.40 million for the drug free Peshawar Programme Phase-III and Rs23.1 million for the Beggar-Free Peshawar Programme with the objective of eliminating drug addiction and beggary from the streets of the provincial capital.

There are plans to rehabilitate 2,000 drug addicts in Phase-III of the Drug-Free Peshawar Programme, according to the official statement.

The chief minister directed the social welfare department to offer free services to families that wish to rehabilitate drug-addicted members but cannot afford the treatment.

The cabinet approved the cost enhancement from Rs87.7 million to Rs152 million for the ADP scheme of repair and rehabilitation of Mahabat Khan Mosque Peshawar.

The project, according to the statement, is aimed at preserving and restoration of the historical Masjid to its original grandeur.

Conservation of the structure, restoration of fountain pond, water supply, CCTV and sound systems, illumination and renovation of ablution area, and provision of motorised sunshade are part of the project.

As per the policy of devolving the financial and administrative powers to divisional headquarters for speedy development, the cabinet approved the establishment of a regional development committee, to be led by the respective divisional commissioner.

This decision also involves amendments to the Planning and Development Guidelines (2015) by the planning and development department, as well as revising the powers of Sanctioning Development Projects and Programmes under the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Delegation of Financial Powers Rules, 2018.

The P&D department will allocate the required technical human resources from its existing officer pool without creating new posts.

The cabinet approved the creation of 35 posts in the administration department for the newly-declared Khyber Pakhtunkhwa House in the Dera Ismail Khan district.

It granted approval to the release of Rs1.377 billion to the food department to settle the remaining wheat procurement liabilities for growers, suppliers, and their authorised representatives at 22 wheat procurement centres, bringing the total financial obligations for the procurement of 208,993.873MT of wheat to Rs20.377 billion, according to the statement.

The finance department has already disbursed Rs19 billion to the food department in line with the cabinet decisions.

The cabinet also approved proposed amendments to the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Ministers (Salaries, Allowances, and Privileges) Act, 1975, along with revisions to the terms and conditions for the advisers and special assistants to the chief minister.

Under the move, a monthly payment of Rs200,000 will be made to the ministers, advisers, and special assistants whom the government hasn’t allotted its houses.

The cabinet approved draft amendments to the KP Local Government Elected Officials Remuneration and Allowances Rules, 2022, with regard to the enhancement of honorarium of chairmen and mayors of tehsil and city local governments from Rs40,000 to Rs80,000 each and that of the chairmen of village and neighbourhood councils from Rs20,000 to Rs30,000 each.

The participants also granted approval to a draft under which funds for the ongoing and new development schemes will be released to every sector as proposed by the planning and development department under the “revised released policy.”

The cabinet approved the draft response to the petition about the provision of adequate financial resources to the merged tribal districts for the consideration of the Peshawar High Court.

It rejected a proposal of the health department for the transfer of a district medicine specialist from the DHQ Hospital Wana to DHQ Hospital Dera Ismail Khan.

The chief minister ordered authorities to fulfil human resource needs of tribal districts on priority.

Published in Dawn, August 7th, 2024