The 25th Meeting of the Provincial Cabinet of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa was held here on Friday with Chief Minister Ali Amin Khan Gandapur in the chair

Peshawar: Feb 21. The 25th Meeting of the Provincial Cabinet of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa was held here on Friday with Chief Minister Ali Amin Khan Gandapur in the chair. Cabinet members, Chief Secretary, Additional Chief Secretaries, Senior Member Board of Revenue, Administrative Secretaries and Advocate General attended the meeting.

The Cabinet approved the Ramadan/Eid financial assistance package for the poor, destitute, widows, orphans and transgender persons across the Province. The Chief Minister directed that the assistance should be provided to the deserving families through banks and easy paisa and be disbursed before the 15th of ramadan. Over a million deserving families will be benefitted of the package without any discrimination in a transparent manner. Each family will be paid Rs.10, 000/- and the banks/disbursing charges too will be borne by the Provincial Government; thus not a single penny will be deducted from those for whom it is meant.

In view of the fact that the fall of ramadan is expected on Feb.28 or March 1, the cabinet directed that all the government servants and pensioners in the province be given their salaries and pensions for the current month on February 25, 2025 in advance.

The cabinet approved annual grant of Rs. 4.920 million for as many as 15 orphan students enrolled at Abbottabad Public School and College.

The Cabinet also approved allocation and release of funds amounting Rs. 1028.673 million to pay the nine months salaries of 3687 teachers of the Elementary and Secondary Education Foundation for uninterrupted education of 181,233 students studying in 2325 Girls Community Schools across the Province. Talking on the occasion, the Chief Minister stressed for the provision of quality education and said that the number of beneficiaries of such schools should be increased in a way that no girl is left without education. He assured that the Government will make every effort to provide as many funds as required for the purpose.

The Cabinet also approved the creation of 458 nursing internship slots for one year with a total financial implication of Rs.170.376 million @ Rs.31000/- per month for the passed out students of 1st batch of BS Nursing program 2020. On this occasion, the cabinet stressed for enhancing such nursing education facilities and encouragement of the private sector in nursing education.

The Cabinet approved Rs. 400 million as Grant-in-Aid for the Auqaf Organization, for the Financial Year 2024-25, so that it could pay the outstanding salaries/pensions and other operational expenses.

The Cabinet approved utilization of the savings and interest earned on deposit of Rs. 332.563 million for salaries and routine operations of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Board of Investment and Trade (KP-BOIT) subject to regularization by the Finance Department.
It also approved the enhanced cost of land for Establishment of Cadet College Project Phase-III from Rs. 298.481 million to Rs. 468.013 million with total difference of Rs. 169.532 million in order to comply with judgment of the Supreme Court.

The cabinet approved amendments in Motor Vehicles Rules (MVR), 1969 authorizing the Secretary Regional Transport Authority for inspection of Bus/Truck Stands.

The Cabinet also approved amendments in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Government Rules of Business 1985. The amendments include (i) the deletion of Directorate of Information Technology from Schedule-I column-3 at S.No.22 along with Director Information Technology in column-4 of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Rules of Business (ii) Substitution of Directorate of Science & Technology at S.No. 22 with Directorate General of Science & Technology and Director Science & Technology at column-4 with Director General Science & Technology. These amendments were necessary after the enactment of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Information Technology Board (amendment) act, 2018; the Directorate of Information Technology ceased to be an attached department of Science and Technology and Information Technology Department and merged into Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Information Technology Board.

The Cabinet also approved various amendments to the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa City / Tehsil Local Government (Rules of Business) 2022; and Amendment in Section 25(1) of the Local Government Act 2013 subject to vetting by the Law department. These amendments provided for more powers and authority to the locally elected representatives.

The cabinet also approved the reconstitution of Board of Management of Pakistan Institute of Prosthetic and Orthotic Sciences (PIPOS).

The Cabinet approved the renaming of Arbab Niaz Cricket Stadium Shahi Bagh as Imran Khan Cricket Stadium Shahi Bagh, Peshawar.