*PESHAWAR: Chief Minister Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Pervez Khattak deservesappreciation for his Madrass reforms. *

*Besides giving an aid of around 27 crores in terms of infrastructure toMadrassah Haqqania it has started to give monthly stipend to the Masjid andMadaras Imams. *

*Chief Minsiter today presided over a meeting of the provincial cabinetthat approved the grant of monthly stipend to Paish Imams of Mosques of allcategories proposed in the summary.*

At the moment, the relevant forum received 20,699 documents of Paish Imamsqualifying for the monthly stipend.

The Chief Minister directed to open the process for accumulation of totaldata of the Paish Imams fulfilling the criteria in order to include themfor the stipend.

He directed to start the grant of stipend to the Paish Imams from the firstweek of March this year.

He directed the finance and Auqaf departmentsto sit together and ensure asmooth and easy process for the facilitation of Paish Imams throughout theprovince.

Chief Minister directed that administratively the stipend to the PaishImams should be distributed by the administrative head of the district. Inthis case the Deputy Commissioner will work out a procedure for thedistribution.

The provincial cabinet which met here today was attended by members of theprovincial cabinet, additional chief secretary and

administrative secretaries and took for debate a number of items and made anumber of decisions in that regard.

The Chief Minister said that his government believed in the collectivewisdom for the collective decision making in order to ensure the publicwelfare covering all dimensions of justice, merit and transparency.

Chief Minister directed for accelerated processing of grant to the HighCourt Bar Council as per laid down procedure adding that all suchannouncements which he made should be implemented in letter and spirit.

He also directed to officially communicate to all the MPAs to formallyinaugurate the completed schools, including the schools understandardization and other schemes in their relevant constituencies anddirected the relevant quarters to facilitate the process for thefunctionalization of these facilities for the benefit of people.

The cabinet approved the appointment of Aqal Badshah, Ex- AdditionalSecretary Law as Provincial Ombudsman.

The provincial cabinet also agreed to approve the exemption of importedforest wood from duty coming through seaport.

Chief Minister termed this decision of the cabinet appreciable for theprotection and conservation of forest and the requirement of constructionwood could be arranged through such export.

The cabinet also endorsed the agreement between the local governmentdepartment and British Council for the training of elected representativesof different districts.

Chief Minister directed to strictly follow and implement the two per centquota of employment for the disabled linking it to the provincial budget.

He directed that the quota of the disabled should be implemented at alltiers including district level etc. None but disabled should be recruitedon the quota post for the disabled and it should be also seen that thedisabled are eligible for the recruitment on the post.

Provincial cabinet also agreed to certain concessions for purchases on needdriven in line with public welfare and facilitation.

The cabinet also approved the amendment bill 2018 of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa forthe appointment of Law Officers.

It also approved amendments to the National Disaster Management Act 2010Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Earlier, the responsibility under the act was to be fulfilled by the ReliefDepartment.

The provincial cabinet also approved draft policy prepared for the projectmanagement and reforms unit of the Chief Secretary Office to settle thelitigation cases of the provincial employees and officers of differentdepartments.

The provincial cabinet also approved the rules 2018 for the KhyberPakhtunkhwa Journalists Welfare Endowment Fund that will replace the 2014Endowment Fund Act for the purpose.

Under the new arrangement, effective steps would be taken for the welfareof journalists and the process of financial help to the deservingjournalists would be made more transparent.

The provincial cabinet also approved the establishment of KhyberPakhtunkhwa Boilers and Pressure Whistle Board in the province.

The 7 member board would be headed by Secretary Industries. The provincialcabinet also agreed to the amendment in the Hotel and Restaurant Act 1976and the travelling agencies act 1976.

The cabinet also agreed to the amendment recently made by the LawDepartment in the Pakistan Prisons Rules 1985.

After the approval from the provincial cabinet these rules would stand asKhyber Pakhtunkhwa Prisons Rules 2018.

The amendment aimed at making the prison laws in consonance with thepresent 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 onpayroll for 24 hours. This would facilitate the prisoners to participate inNamaz e Janaza etc. Previously this power rested with the Secretary homeand was time consuming.

The provincial cabinet also approved the rules 2018 for the allotment ofofficial residential accommodation in the light of the High Court verdict.The newly approved rules would make the whole exercise of allotment ofresidential accommodation to the officers and officials transparent andmerit-based. – Agencies