KP cabinet approves essential expenditure for May

PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa cabinet on Monday approved essential expenditure of the province for the month of May while directing all departments to finalize their own budget proposals for the next financial year.

An official handout said the approval of the essential expenditure was necessitated in the absence of the assembly session as the budget for the current financial year was approved by the caretaker cabinet at different intervals.

The meeting resolved to convene the budget session of the provincial assembly to approve budget for the next financial year.Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur presided over the meeting held in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa House in Islamabad.

The minister, advisors, special assistants along with relevant government officers attended the meeting.Adviser to Chief Minister on Information and Public Relations Barrister Mohammad Ali Saif said the provincial cabinet had decided the ministers, who did not belong to Peshawar and did not have an official residence, would be given Rs200,000.

He said that since 2014, Rs70,000 was deducted from the salaries of the ministers who had official residences.Barrister Saif said that house rents was increased in 2024.

He said that keeping in view the backwardness and security situation of the merged districts the provincial cabinet had approved Rs503 million for the deputy commissioners of the merged districts for the next three years.

The cabinet approved the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Charitable Commission Employees Terms and Conditions of Service Rules 2024. The commission has been established in 2019 under the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Charities Act 2019.

The prime objective of the commission is to register, administer and regulate charities, fundraising, appeal and collection of charitable funds for charities through effective monitoring and accountability of promoters, collectors and recipients. These rules will enable the provincial government clear the backlog of pending cases of charity organizations waiting for registrations.

Disagreeing with the recommendations put forward in the meeting minutes of the Standing Committee of the Senate of Pakistan, the provincial cabinet decided to go ahead with the already approved plan for Swat Motorway Phase-II.

The Senate committee, in its meeting on May 16, 2023, had suggested alterations to the project design, but the cabinet asserted that the current design adheres to international standards and sound engineering principles.

The cabinet highlighted that the senate committee’s recommendations were not obligatory for the provincial government and might impede the project’s timely execution.As proposed by the Labour Department, the cabinet approved the establishment of labour court in Kohat and the extension of the jurisdictions of labour courts to the merged districts. The cabinet approved establishment of camp offices for the labor courts in Chitral, Buner and Bannu.

The cabinet approved the allotment of two kanals state land, situated inside Tehsil Building at Jamrud in the Khyber district to the federal government for the construction of office-cum-residential accommodation on payment of market value in relaxation of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Public Procurement Regular Authority Amended Act No. V clause (14) sub-clause (1).

The cabinet constituted a ministerial committee to look into the grievances of the employees regularized under the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Employees (Regularization of Services) Act 2018. The committee will review cases and present recommendations before the cabinet for consideration in compliance with the directions of the High Court.

The cabinet approved Rs89.280 million to purchase 18 Suzuki Swift cars for 18 newly created post of senior civil judges in the family courts of the province. It okayed an allowance of Rs300,000 per month for the incumbent director general of the Aviation. The Administration Department had requested that it as per the agreement and service rules for the post of director general Aviation, both serving and retired officer of BPS-20/21 of Pakistan Air Force can be posted as DG Aviation.

The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government owns two helicopters for official use. The chief minister directed the officials to prepare a case for converting one of these helicopters (Ml-17) into an air ambulance.

Relaxing the ban on the purchase of appliances for the Administration Department, the provincial cabinet allowed the provision of funds amounting to Rs18.808 million (Phase-I) for purchasing handheld scanners and cell phone detectors.