PESHAWAR: Chief Minister Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Pervez Khattak presided over a meeting of the provincial cabinet that approved the grant of monthly stipend to Paish Imams of Mosques of all categories proposed in the summary.
At the moment, the relevant forum received 20,699 documents of Paish Imams qualifying for the monthly stipend.
The Chief Minister directed to open the process for accumulation of total data of the Paish Imams fulfilling the criteria in order to include them for the stipend.
He directed to start the grant of stipend to the Paish Imams from the first week of March this year.
He directed the finance and Auqaf departmentsto sit together and ensure a smooth and easy process for the facilitation of Paish Imams throughout the province.
Chief Minister directed that administratively the stipend to the Paish Imams should be distributed by the administrative head of the district. In this case the Deputy Commissioner will work out a procedure for the distribution.
The provincial cabinet which met here today was attended by members of the provincial cabinet, additional chief secretary and
administrative secretaries and took for debate a number of items and made a number of decisions in that regard.
The Chief Minister said that his government believed in the collective wisdom for the collective decision making in order to ensure the public welfare covering all dimensions of justice, merit and transparency.
Chief Minister directed for accelerated processing of grant to the High Court Bar Council as per laid down procedure adding that all such announcements which he made should be implemented in letter and spirit.
He also directed to officially communicate to all the MPAs to formally inaugurate the completed schools, including the schools under standardization and other schemes in their relevant constituencies and directed the relevant quarters to facilitate the process for the functionalization of these facilities for the benefit of people.
The cabinet approved the appointment of Aqal Badshah, Ex- Additional Secretary Law as Provincial Ombudsman.
The provincial cabinet also agreed to approve the exemption of imported forest wood from duty coming through seaport.
Chief Minister termed this decision of the cabinet appreciable for the protection and conservation of forest and the requirement of construction wood could be arranged through such export.
The cabinet also endorsed the agreement between the local government department and British Council for the training of elected representatives of different districts.
Chief Minister directed to strictly follow and implement the two per cent quota of employment for the disabled linking it to the provincial budget.
He directed that the quota of the disabled should be implemented at all tiers including district level etc. None but disabled should be recruited on the quota post for the disabled and it should be also seen that the disabled are eligible for the recruitment on the post.
Provincial cabinet also agreed to certain concessions for purchases on need driven in line with public welfare and facilitation.
The cabinet also approved the amendment bill 2018 of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa for the appointment of Law Officers.
It also approved amendments to the National Disaster Management Act 2010 Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Earlier, the responsibility under the act was to be fulfilled by the Relief Department.
The provincial cabinet also approved draft policy prepared for the project management and reforms unit of the Chief Secretary Office to settle the litigation cases of the provincial employees and officers of different departments.
The provincial cabinet also approved the rules 2018 for the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Journalists Welfare Endowment Fund that will replace the 2014 Endowment Fund Act for the purpose.
Under the new arrangement, effective steps would be taken for the welfare of journalists and the process of financial help to the deserving journalists would be made more transparent.
The provincial cabinet also approved the establishment of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Boilers and Pressure Whistle Board in the province.
The 7 member board would be headed by Secretary Industries. The provincial cabinet also agreed to the amendment in the Hotel and Restaurant Act 1976 and the travelling agencies act 1976.
The cabinet also agreed to the amendment recently made by the Law Department in the Pakistan Prisons Rules 1985.
After the approval from the provincial cabinet these rules would stand as Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Prisons Rules 2018.
The amendment aimed at making the prison laws in consonance with the present day requirements.
With this, reforms could be introduced in the overall system of prisons. The deputy commission has been empowered to bail out the prisoners on payroll for 24 hours. This would facilitate the prisoners to participate in Namaz e Janaza etc. Previously this power rested with the Secretary home and was time consuming.
The provincial cabinet also approved the rules 2018 for the allotment of official residential accommodation in the light of the High Court verdict. The newly approved rules would make the whole exercise of allotment of residential accommodation to the officers and officials transparent and merit-based. – AFP