Despite rising wheat prices in Punjab due to flash floods, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) cabinet was assured that the province has adequate reserves and procurement decisions will be taken according to future needs.
The update was shared during a cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Ali Amin Khan Gandapur, according to government spokesperson Barrister Muhammad Ali Saif. The meeting was attended by cabinet members, the chief secretary, additional chief secretaries, senior officials from the revenue board, administrative secretaries, and the KP advocate general.
Mr. Saif said the cabinet decided to raise the minimum wage for adult, unskilled, juvenile, and adolescent workers from Rs36,000 to Rs40,000 per month. It also approved increasing the net hydel profit (NHP) allocation for districts hosting dams from 10% to 15% for development projects. A special committee will now draft Terms of Reference (TORs) for the utilisation of these funds, following successful negotiations with the federal government.
To assist families displaced by counter-terrorism operations in parts of Bajaur, the cabinet allocated Rs1.24 billion for the Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA). The chief minister directed that the funds be released promptly, stressing the government’s responsibility to care for displaced people, whether in camps or with host families.
Other key decisions included:
- Approval of a new provincial communication strategy to adapt to evolving media and public relations trends.
- Reconstruction of Malak Saad Shaheed Police Lines, building of hostels for police personnel, and setting up five new police stations and eight posts in Peshawar under a Rs3.6 billion scheme.
- Allocation of four kanals of land for a new police station in Akbarpura, Nowshera.
- Declaring the newly-built sub-jail in Swabi as a district jail and transferring 165 posts for its operation.
In the health sector, the cabinet approved upgrading the Oghi Rural Health Centre to a Category-D Hospital, endorsed a new fund mechanism for outsourced health facilities, and sanctioned Rs10 million for Rukhsana Mother and Childcare Trust Hospital. An additional Rs9.5 million was allocated for the festivals of the Kalash and Baha’i communities.
On transport and environment, the government sanctioned the purchase of 50 more buses for BRT Peshawar and approved the establishment of Pakistan’s largest safari park in Nowshera by transferring 560 acres to the wildlife department. It also handed over 14,718 acres of barren land in Bund Piru, Tank, to the forest department for afforestation and later wildlife conservation.
In heritage preservation, the cabinet approved transferring the historic Chashma Rest House in Dera Ismail Khan from the irrigation to the archaeology department for conservation and public access.
Additional measures included the creation of a KP Arts and Crafts Display Centre in Islamabad, approval of the KP Healthcare Commission Registration and Licensing Rules, 2024, amendments to the KP Commission on the Status of Women Rules, 2017, and updates to the KP Stamp Act, 1899.
The cabinet also sanctioned:
- Handing over a government building for a Nadra office in Dera Ismail Khan on a rental basis.
- Granting MBS-II remuneration to the provincial ombudsman under the KP Ombudsman Act, 2010.
- Approving Rs6 million for a kidney transplant of a patient from Dera Ismail Khan.
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