KP to hold LG polls in phases

PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government on Monday decided to hold local government (LG) elections in phased and staggering manners keeping in view the weather conditions.

The decision was made at a cabinet meeting presided over by Chief Minister Mahmood Khan here on Monday.Chief secretary, senior member board of revenue and administrative secretaries were in attendance as well.

Briefing the media about the cabinet decisions, Special Assistant to Chief Minister on Information and Higher Education, Kamran Bangash, said LG elections were part of the cabinet agenda.

He said it was decided to hold the coming LG polls in phased manners starting with the Village Council (VC) /Neighbourhood Council (NC) elections but that too in staggering manners, keeping in view the weather conditions.

Kamran Banagsh said LG elections for tehsils would be held after VC/NC elections. The LG elections will be held first in plain areas of the province, he explained.About the other decisions, the special assistant said the chief minister had given a final timeline to all departments to frame rules under the acts passed by the PTI and previous governments within one month to implement the laws for the public welfare.

He said the cabinet members expressed satisfaction at the PTI candidates win in the cantonment boards recent elections stating.

“The trend and mass support point to the PTIs government performance. The masses support for the provincial government is still intact and PTI will be triumphant in the next general election as well,” said the chief minister to his cabinet colleagues.

The cabinet was informed in detail about the acts passed and rules made under there during the tenure of the incumbent government.From September 2018 to date, KP Assembly passed 52 acts, out for which rules have been formed and notified under 13 laws so far.

The rules were being made under 29 law whereas 10 acts were statuary in nature which did not require rules.The cabinet approved amendments to the KPPRA Rules to ensure quality based procurements and timely disposal/leasing out of government assets.

It gave a go-ahead to the Small Industries Development Board service rules. The chief minister directed the officials concerned to brief the cabinet about the performance of the board.About the affordable housing scheme, one of the flagship projects of the government, it was added that 3.5 marla plots would be allotted on nominal charges to the poor segment of the society having less than 50,000 income per month. The bank loans would be provided on easy terms for the construction of houses which will be recovered in 10 years.

The total construction and development cost per house had been calculated at 1.8 million inclusive of subsidy of Rs 0.3 Million which will be provided by the federal government.Initially, one site in Charsadda district has been selected for the purpose. To extend the same to all divisions, a committee has been constituted to select suitable sites on state land, he added.

The cabinet discussed the matter to engage International Finance Corporation, a subsidiary of the World Bank, for conducting a feasibility study for the establishment of four tertiary care hospitals in three regions and Peshawar through Public-Private Partnership.

It constituted a committee to chalk out modalities for the purpose. The body will prepare recommendations for the promotion of medical tourism in the context of geo-strategic position of the province.

The cabinet also approved establishment of Haripur Urban Development Authority.The cabinet approved the establishment of police lines in Miranshah and Janikhel through single sourcing. It okayed the release of wheat to flour mills from October this year.

The cabinet approved a supplementary grant of Rs one billion for the construction of 760 schools destroyed during the earthquake.Likewise, the cabinet approved a grant of Rs 80 million for the construction of a Judicial Complex in Pattan in Kohistan.

The amendments to Child Protection and Welfare Rules 2016 were approved as well.Under Child Protection amendments rules, Institutional Management Committees will be established to ensure better management of institutes such as “Zamung Kor”.