Syed Haider Imam
Chief Minister (5k+ posts)
Re: PTI's KPK Government Achievements
FEB 29 2016
FEB 29 2016
KPK Updates
- Thread starter Syed Haider Imam
- Start date
Syed Haider Imam
Chief Minister (5k+ posts)
Re: PTI's KPK Government Achievements
[h=1]200 more cops to be deployed in Peshawar
[/h] PESHAWAR: The city police on Tuesday informed traders that 200 additional police personnel and 30 motorcycle riders would be deployed and 118 security cameras be installed in parts of the capital city to improve security.
The decision was conveyed to the trader leaders at a meeting attended by the Peshawar police chief Mubarak Zeb and SSP operations Abbas Majeed Marwat.
Mr Zeb informed the traders about the new security arrangements, according to a statement.
SSP operations Abbas Marwat said a police-traders coordination council would also be formed to bridge gap between the community and the police force. The committee will be in touch with senior officials and will help organise weekly meetings, he added.
Mr Marwat said police were pursuing leads in the murder of traders leader Haji Haleem Jan and would soon reach the culprits.
Published in Dawn, March 2nd, 2016
[h=1]Three held for collecting illegal tax
[/h] PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa commissionerate of mines arrested on Monday three people collecting illegal excise duty on vehicles carrying raw minerals from Afghanistan and Fata.
The department was tipped-off about collection of illegal collection of duty, a mines directorate official told Dawn, saying they informed the Hayatabad police about the illegal practice who then arrested the three accused.
The official said there was no tax on minerals entering settled areas from Afghanistan and Fata. The accused were identified as Mohammad Rahim and Qasid, residents of Jamrud and Wasim Khan of Wazir Dhand.
The accused were caught red-handed while collecting illegal excise duty from vehicles coming from Afghanistan and Fata. They had collected money worth Rs5,620, the official said, adding fake receipts were also recovered from their possession.
A fourth accused managed to escape the scene, the official said. Later, Hayatabad police registered a case against the accused under sections 420, 468 and 471 of the Pakistan Panel Code.
The mines directorate official said collection of illegal excise duty from vehicles coming from Afghanistan was raised by the Afghan government through diplomatic channels. He said to discuss this issue KP chief minister and Afghan counsel general in Peshawar were likely to meet on Thursday.
Published in Dawn, March 2nd, 2016
http://www.dawn.com/news/1243036/three-held-for-collecting-illegal-tax
[h=1]Mansehra nazims fear lapse of Rs720m uplift funds
[/h] MANSEHRA: The nazims of village and neighbourhood councils in Mansehra have feared the ‘inefficiency’ of the local government department will lead to the lapse of over Rs720 million development funds allocated for the district in the current fiscal.
“The nazims of almost all 194 village and neighbourhood councils in Mansehra have submitted development schemes to the local government department after their approval by the respective councils but the latter hasn’t even begun paperwork for their execution. As a result, we fear development funds valuing over Rs720 million will lapse as only four months are left to the end of the current financial year,” Safada Village Council nazim Basharat Ali told reporters here on Tuesday.
Accompanied by a group of nazims, Mr. Ali said in the neighbouring Abbottabad district, the process to float tenders for development schemes in village and neighborhood councils was in final stage but ironically, the local government had yet to finalise schemes for Mansehra’s local bodies.
“We are tired of the inefficient and lethargic officials of the local government department,” he said.
The nazim said local government minister Inayatullah Khan had promised that the employees of the department would make every effort to serve the people along with local government representatives, but the promise had so far been unfulfilled.
He said if development schemes weren’t executed on time, how the local government representatives would satisfy voters.
“We want early completion of the formalities for the execution of development projects approved by village and neighborhood councils. Little time is left before the current financial year ends,” he said.
EMPLOYEES APPOINTED: The local government department has appointed 130 low-grade employees to village and neighbourhood councils in Mansehra district.
The appointment letters in this respect were issued by an assistant director of the local government department here on Tuesday.
Officials in the know told Dawn that the appointments had been made to 130 of the 194 village and neighbourhood councils.
“In the remaining 64 village and neighbourhood councils, the employees of the local government department have been adjusted. In this way, all 194 village and neighbourhood councils of Mansehra will have Class IV employees,” said an official.
Published in Dawn, March 2nd, 2016
http://www.dawn.com/news/1243030/mansehra-nazims-fear-lapse-of-rs720m-uplift-funds
[h=1]‘Karak has 54 ghost schools’
[/h] KARAK: Adviser to the chief minister on prison affairs Malik Qasim Khan Khattak on Monday said his constituency, Karak, had 54 ghost schools, which questioned the performance of the education department.
He was addressing a private school opening ceremony in Chokara area here on Monday.
The adviser said the existence of ghost schools in the district was a failure of the education department.
He said he would ensure the elimination of cheating from examinations including the Secondary School Certificate exams scheduled to be held in March.
Mr. Khattak said if cheating materials were found in an examination hall, then it would be closed instantly.
He appreciated the private sector for spreading education in the district but said the privately-owned educational institutions should focus on imparting quality education to youths to enable them to become good citizens.
The adviser said the promotion of education was the top priority of the PTI government in the province and that millions of rupees had so far been spent for the provision of missing facilities at the public sector schools.
He said the government had initiated mega development projects in the district, while work had resumed on the remaining portion of Karak-Darratang Road and would be completed at the cost of Rs750 million.
Mr. Khattak said the Kohe Maidan Road had been constructed at the cost of Rs200 million.
He said he had ensured the start of work on the supply of drinking water from Lawagher dam on gravity line to different localities of Takht-i-Nusrati tehsil.
The adviser said the project would be completed at the cost of Rs380 million.
He approved the establishment of a full-fledged computer laboratory for the private school.
Published in Dawn, March 1st, 2016
http://www.dawn.com/news/1242777/karak-has-54-ghost-schools
[h=1]Artists threaten to move court for monthly stipend
[/h]PESHAWAR: The artists have threatened to move court if provincial government fails to award them monthly stipend of Rs30,000.
The provincial awarded stipends to 500 artists recently but some representatives of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Artists Association (KPAA) told a press conference here on Monday that they would move court to get a stay order against it if government failed to consider them for the financial support.
They said that they had time and again requested the government to form another scrutiny committee to reconsider their names as they also contributed a lot to the art and culture but they were yet to get any positive response from the culture department.
“We had applied for the honoraria but our applications disappeared from the files,” said Mian Waseem, a representative of KPAA. He added that some officials of culture department deprived of the honoraria
http://www.dawn.com/news/1242776/artists-threaten-to-move-court-for-monthly-stipend
[h=1]200 more cops to be deployed in Peshawar
[/h] PESHAWAR: The city police on Tuesday informed traders that 200 additional police personnel and 30 motorcycle riders would be deployed and 118 security cameras be installed in parts of the capital city to improve security.
The decision was conveyed to the trader leaders at a meeting attended by the Peshawar police chief Mubarak Zeb and SSP operations Abbas Majeed Marwat.
Mr Zeb informed the traders about the new security arrangements, according to a statement.
SSP operations Abbas Marwat said a police-traders coordination council would also be formed to bridge gap between the community and the police force. The committee will be in touch with senior officials and will help organise weekly meetings, he added.
Mr Marwat said police were pursuing leads in the murder of traders leader Haji Haleem Jan and would soon reach the culprits.
Published in Dawn, March 2nd, 2016
[h=1]Three held for collecting illegal tax
[/h] PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa commissionerate of mines arrested on Monday three people collecting illegal excise duty on vehicles carrying raw minerals from Afghanistan and Fata.
The department was tipped-off about collection of illegal collection of duty, a mines directorate official told Dawn, saying they informed the Hayatabad police about the illegal practice who then arrested the three accused.
The official said there was no tax on minerals entering settled areas from Afghanistan and Fata. The accused were identified as Mohammad Rahim and Qasid, residents of Jamrud and Wasim Khan of Wazir Dhand.
The accused were caught red-handed while collecting illegal excise duty from vehicles coming from Afghanistan and Fata. They had collected money worth Rs5,620, the official said, adding fake receipts were also recovered from their possession.
A fourth accused managed to escape the scene, the official said. Later, Hayatabad police registered a case against the accused under sections 420, 468 and 471 of the Pakistan Panel Code.
The mines directorate official said collection of illegal excise duty from vehicles coming from Afghanistan was raised by the Afghan government through diplomatic channels. He said to discuss this issue KP chief minister and Afghan counsel general in Peshawar were likely to meet on Thursday.
Published in Dawn, March 2nd, 2016
http://www.dawn.com/news/1243036/three-held-for-collecting-illegal-tax
[h=1]Mansehra nazims fear lapse of Rs720m uplift funds
[/h] MANSEHRA: The nazims of village and neighbourhood councils in Mansehra have feared the ‘inefficiency’ of the local government department will lead to the lapse of over Rs720 million development funds allocated for the district in the current fiscal.
“The nazims of almost all 194 village and neighbourhood councils in Mansehra have submitted development schemes to the local government department after their approval by the respective councils but the latter hasn’t even begun paperwork for their execution. As a result, we fear development funds valuing over Rs720 million will lapse as only four months are left to the end of the current financial year,” Safada Village Council nazim Basharat Ali told reporters here on Tuesday.
Accompanied by a group of nazims, Mr. Ali said in the neighbouring Abbottabad district, the process to float tenders for development schemes in village and neighborhood councils was in final stage but ironically, the local government had yet to finalise schemes for Mansehra’s local bodies.
“We are tired of the inefficient and lethargic officials of the local government department,” he said.
The nazim said local government minister Inayatullah Khan had promised that the employees of the department would make every effort to serve the people along with local government representatives, but the promise had so far been unfulfilled.
He said if development schemes weren’t executed on time, how the local government representatives would satisfy voters.
“We want early completion of the formalities for the execution of development projects approved by village and neighborhood councils. Little time is left before the current financial year ends,” he said.
EMPLOYEES APPOINTED: The local government department has appointed 130 low-grade employees to village and neighbourhood councils in Mansehra district.
The appointment letters in this respect were issued by an assistant director of the local government department here on Tuesday.
Officials in the know told Dawn that the appointments had been made to 130 of the 194 village and neighbourhood councils.
“In the remaining 64 village and neighbourhood councils, the employees of the local government department have been adjusted. In this way, all 194 village and neighbourhood councils of Mansehra will have Class IV employees,” said an official.
Published in Dawn, March 2nd, 2016
http://www.dawn.com/news/1243030/mansehra-nazims-fear-lapse-of-rs720m-uplift-funds
[h=1]‘Karak has 54 ghost schools’
[/h] KARAK: Adviser to the chief minister on prison affairs Malik Qasim Khan Khattak on Monday said his constituency, Karak, had 54 ghost schools, which questioned the performance of the education department.
He was addressing a private school opening ceremony in Chokara area here on Monday.
The adviser said the existence of ghost schools in the district was a failure of the education department.
He said he would ensure the elimination of cheating from examinations including the Secondary School Certificate exams scheduled to be held in March.
Mr. Khattak said if cheating materials were found in an examination hall, then it would be closed instantly.
He appreciated the private sector for spreading education in the district but said the privately-owned educational institutions should focus on imparting quality education to youths to enable them to become good citizens.
The adviser said the promotion of education was the top priority of the PTI government in the province and that millions of rupees had so far been spent for the provision of missing facilities at the public sector schools.
He said the government had initiated mega development projects in the district, while work had resumed on the remaining portion of Karak-Darratang Road and would be completed at the cost of Rs750 million.
Mr. Khattak said the Kohe Maidan Road had been constructed at the cost of Rs200 million.
He said he had ensured the start of work on the supply of drinking water from Lawagher dam on gravity line to different localities of Takht-i-Nusrati tehsil.
The adviser said the project would be completed at the cost of Rs380 million.
He approved the establishment of a full-fledged computer laboratory for the private school.
Published in Dawn, March 1st, 2016
http://www.dawn.com/news/1242777/karak-has-54-ghost-schools
[h=1]Artists threaten to move court for monthly stipend
[/h]PESHAWAR: The artists have threatened to move court if provincial government fails to award them monthly stipend of Rs30,000.
The provincial awarded stipends to 500 artists recently but some representatives of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Artists Association (KPAA) told a press conference here on Monday that they would move court to get a stay order against it if government failed to consider them for the financial support.
They said that they had time and again requested the government to form another scrutiny committee to reconsider their names as they also contributed a lot to the art and culture but they were yet to get any positive response from the culture department.
“We had applied for the honoraria but our applications disappeared from the files,” said Mian Waseem, a representative of KPAA. He added that some officials of culture department deprived of the honoraria
http://www.dawn.com/news/1242776/artists-threaten-to-move-court-for-monthly-stipend
Syed Haider Imam
Chief Minister (5k+ posts)
Re: PTI's KPK Government Achievements
[h=1]New bus service for Peshawar soon
[/h] PESHAWAR: Chief Minister Pervez Khattak has ordered operationalisation of 100 air-conditioned buses from Chamkani to Hayatabad to provide comfortable transportation services to the citizens.
According to a statement issued here on Sunday, the chief minister issued these directives while presiding over a high-level meeting convened to discuss Peshawar mass transit project at the Chief Minister’s Secretariat here.
The meeting was attended by special assistant to the CM for transport Shah Mohammad Wazir, MPAs Shaukat Yousafzai and Javed Nasim, district nazim Arbab Asim, chief secretary and representatives of the Asian Development Bank.
Secretary transport told the meeting that these 100 buses would be run at corridor-2 starting from Chamkani and ending at Karkhano Market in Hayatabad. He said the latest bus service would also be introduced at Ring Road and Hayatabad Township soon.
The chief minister ordered the authorities concerned to make the project beneficial for the citizens. He asked them to introduce 100 buses in the first phase and increase the number with the passage of time. The authorities concerned were also directed to float expression of interest to search a suitable firm for implementation of the project.
Highlighting the main features of the bus rapid transport project in Peshawar city, the secretary transport said that free feasibility of the project was already completed while feasibility study initiated in January this year would be completed till August.
He said engineering designing of the project to be initiated in July this year would be completed in November. He said construction work on the corridor-2 from Chamkani to Hayatabad would be initiated in January next year at a cost of Rs20 billion, which would be provided by the Asian Development Bank as loan to the provincial government.
Published in Dawn, February 29th, 2016
http://www.dawn.com/news/1242621/new-bus-service-for-peshawar-soon
[h=1]Children dying of diphtheria due to absence of vaccine
[/h] PESHAWAR: Children have been dying of diphtheria in southern districts and Malakand division owing to non-availability of vaccine and drugs required for treatment of the infected people, according to sources.
“Two children at a Darul Uloom (seminary) died of the total 37 students diagnosed positive for diphtheria, with six of them seriously, in Dir district,” Dr Ayub Roz, the deputy director of expanded programme on immunisation, told Dawn.
He said that government didn’t have DT vaccine to protect children above seven years as they were administering them diphtheria pertussis and tetanus (DPT) vaccine, which was meant for the children below seven years of age. “Low DPT coverage and non-availability of DT and anti-diphtheria serum are causing avoidable deaths,” he said.
However, Dr Ayub said that there was a shift from emphasis only on polio to other childhood vaccine-preventable diseases also. “Prevention of polio is very important but we are also giving more attention to other children ailments,” he added.
[h=4]EPI official says govt doesn’t have vaccine to protect children above seven[/h]
About outbreak of the disease in Dir, Dr Ayub said that they closed the seminary and isolated the infected people. He said that the district health officer didn’t communicate the incident to the health department on time.
Teams were immediately sent there after getting information about the disease from other sources, he said. “Our teams visited the Darul Uloom which housed 299 students including 50 per cent Afghans. They held counselling sessions with the teachers and elders of the nearby villages,” he added.
Dr Ayub said that health department was supposed to assist the districts in maintenance of cold-chain and help in patients’ treatment but the responsibility rested with the district health officers.
Sources in the health department told Dawn that the World Health Organisation had been providing anti-diphtheria serum (ADS) to them till 2015 but then asked the government to procure it from its own resources to save lives of children.
They said that outbreak of diphtheria was recently reported in Punjab where health department imported some 5,000 doses ADS. The WHO had also advised the health department to procure it from Punjab on loan basis to be given to the infected people.
Sources said that health department approached the WHO for supply of ADS but it had exhausted the stock. The world health agency used to provide free ADS to the people, affected by earthquake and flood but then it wanted the government to do it, they said. Only last year, the WHO provided ADS to more than 65 patients but then the people in vulnerable areas depended on government’ response, they added.
Sources said that ADS and DT, both were available in the international market which could be procured through the WHO and other relevant agencies to ensure standard and quality but the government had to allocate amount for it.
“The WHO informed the health department about the diphtheria-related deaths and incidents more than once but the latter was unmoved as it was preoccupied with anti-polio vaccination, leaving aside other vaccine-preventable diseases,” sources said.
They said that Malakand division and southern districts are the worst-hit areas where children suffered from low-immunity.
Published in Dawn, February 29th, 2016
http://www.dawn.com/news/1242618/children-dying-of-diphtheria-due-to-absence-of-vaccine
[h=1]View from the courtroom: KP only province lacking law to deal with domestic violence
[/h] After passage of the Punjab Protection of Women against Violence Bill, 2016, by the Punjab Assembly on Feb 24, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is now the only province left where no law has so far been enacted to deal with domestic violence. The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government has referred the draft of its proposed Domestic Violence (Prevention and Protection) Bill, 2014 to the Council of Islamic Ideology (CII) several months ago seeking its advice under Article 229 of the Constitution of Pakistan. The government now awaits the response of the council and there is no possibility of enactment of the law in near future.
Under Article 230 (1) (b) of the Constitution the functions of CII also include to advise a House, a Provincial Assembly, the President or a governor on any question referred to the council as to whether proposed law is or is not repugnant to the injunctions of Islam.
Furthermore, under sub-section 3 of Article 230 where a provincial assembly considers that, in the public interest, the making of the proposed law in relation to which the question arose should not be postponed until the advice of the council is furnished, the law may be made before the advice is furnished.
Sindh was the first where the provincial assembly had passed the Domestic Violence (Prevention and Protection) Act on March 8, 2013 and then approved by the governor on March 12 the same year. Similarly, in Balochistan the assembly had passed The Balochistan Domestic Violence (Prevention and Protection) Act on Feb 1, 2014 which was signed by the governor on Feb 11, 2014.
The draft bill of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the laws enacted by Sindh and Balochistan provinces were almost identical with slight variations. The law of Punjab was different in certain aspects from that of Sindh and Balochistan. While the enacted laws as well as the proposed KP law had been drawing criticism from certain quarters, including religious circles, the Act of Punjab has drawn more criticism compared to that of Sindh and Balochistan’.
One major difference between these laws is that the newly-enacted law of Punjab has declared only a woman as aggrieved person whereas in that of Sindh an aggrieved person also means a child or any other vulnerable person. The law of Balochistan and the KP proposed law in the definition of aggrieved person also include a man, apart from a woman, child or vulnerable person, who is or has been in a domestic relationship with the accused or defendant and who alleges to have been subjected to any act of domestic violence by the accused/ defendant.
Furthermore, the definition of “domestic violence” given in the laws of Sindh and Balochistan is very comprehensive, including several sub-sections and also provisions of Pakistan Penal Code. This definition includes different aspects of domestic violence, including emotional, psychological and verbal abuse; harassment; physical abuse; stalking; sexual abuse; trespass; economic abuse; wrongful confinement; criminal force; criminal intimidation; assault; etc.
The recently-passed law of Punjab includes a vague definition of “domestic violence” terming it violence committed by the defendant with whom the aggrieved is living or has lived in a house when they are related to each other by consanguinity, marriage or adoption. The law defines “violence” as any offence committed against a woman, including abetment of an offence, domestic violence, emotional, psychological and verbal abuse, economic abuse, stalking or a cybercrime.
In Sindh‘s law different penalties have been given for different forms of domestic violence, while no such penalties are available in the laws of Punjab and Balochistan. In these two laws, the only penalties are available for breach of protection order issued by the court. In the proposed law of KP both penalties are available for domestic violence as well as breach of a court’s protection order.
Moreover, the laws of Balochistan and Sindh include provisions related to protection committees having different composition and also appointment of protection officers assigned with different functions. In the Punjab law there are provisions of district women protection committee and district woman protection officers.
Under all the three laws the concerned court is empowered to issue a protection order in favour of an aggrieved person if it is satisfied that any violence has been committed or is likely to be committed and issue certain directives to the accused/ defendant.
In the Punjab law an interesting provision is related to the wearing of a tracker by a defendant. The court is empowered to issue directives to a defendant to “wear ankle or wrist bracelet GPS tracker to track the movement of the defendant round the clock.”
Experts believe that no such provision has presently been available in any other law in vogue in the country and apparently implementation of such provisions is very difficult.
One of the identical provisions is related to issuance of a residence order by the court, under which the court is empowered to direct that an aggrieved person shall not be evicted, save in accordance with law, from the house. The Punjab’s law further provides that an aggrieved person may be relocated from the house to the shelter home for purpose of relief, protection and rehabilitation.
This law also includes provision for establishing protection centres and shelter homes under a phased programme.
Social activists and legal experts wonder how a law, which is not considered repugnant to Islam in rests of the three provinces, has been sent by the KP government to the CII to seek its advice. “Even if the advice of the CII has not been submitted so far, the government has the constitutional powers to introduce the bill in the assembly and enact the required law,” said Shahnawaz Khan, an advocate of the Supreme Court.
Published in Dawn, February 29th, 2016
http://www.dawn.com/news/1242614/vi...ce-lacking-law-to-deal-with-domestic-violence
[h=1]Govt yet to take possession of historical sites in Swat
[/h] MINGORA: Despite directives of the chief minister to take possession of the 11 historical sites of Gandhara Civilisation, situated on privately owned land, the authorities have failed to purchase the land after two years.
Chief Minister Pervez Khattak, during his visit to Mallam Jabba snow festival on March 12, 2014, had directed the authorities concerned to take possession of the 11 most important archaeological sites in Swat.
The sites include Mahmood Ghaznavi Mosque, Barikot, Butkara III, Jurjurai Stupa, Shneysha Stupa, Abbasahib Cheena, Balokaley Gumbat, Ghalegay Statue, Jahanabad Buddha, Shingardar Stupa, Barikot Miana and Amluk Dara Stupa.
However, after two years the sites are still owned by individuals as the government failed to acquire them. The local cultural activists, archaeologists and members of civil society have shown concern over delay in acquiring the sites. They have demanded of the government to purchase the land and take possession of the historical sites immediately.
[h=4]Official says they wait for funds to pay the landowners[/h]
“These sites of Gandhara Civilisations are of great importance which are being demolished and destroyed,” said Usman Ulasyar, the chairman of Suvastu Arts and Culture Association.
He said that authorities should immediately purchase the sites otherwise people would stage protest against the provincial government. “If the directives of chief minister can go unanswered then who else can do this,” he questioned.
Dr Abdul Samad Khan, the director of archaeology and museums, said that the legal procedure of acquiring land of all the sites was completed. “Provincial government has sanctioned Rs284 million for all the sites and we are waiting for release of the amount. Once we get the amount, we will immediately pay the owners of the lands and will take possession of the sites,” he told Dawn.
Mahmood Khan, the provincial minister for archaeology, museums, sports and tourism, when contacted, said he would soon take up the matter of release of funds with the finance department.
“I will instantly inquire as to why the finance department is not releasing the already approved amount to archaeology department. I hope that within a week the amount will be transferred and sent to the district administration to pay it to the landowners,” he said.
The minister said that he would soon take tangible steps for promotion of cultural and archaeological tourism in Swat.
Published in Dawn, March 1st, 2016
http://www.dawn.com/news/1242775/govt-yet-to-take-possession-of-historical-sites-in-swat
[h=1]No rules framed to set up dispute resolution forums
[/h] PESHAWAR: The local government department is yet to set up dispute resolution forums at the village and neighbourhood councils for out-of-court settlement of disputes as relevant rules have so far not been framed despite enactment of the law over two years ago, according to officials.
Section 29 of The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Local Government Act, 2013, which defines functions of the councils, states that ‘the councils shall provide effective forum for amicable out-of-court settlement of disputes and, for this purpose, constitute panels of members as conciliators’.
Under the law, nazims of the village and neighbourhood councils have to chair panels of members constituted for amicable settlement of disputes in the respective councils.
The officials said that the local government department was responsible for making rules of business for the functions and setting up of the dispute resolution forums (DRF) under the law which was notified on Nov7, 2013. They said that the rules were mandatory for the functioning of the DRF because only a few lines had been mentioned in the law regarding it.
Stressing on the importance of DRF, they said that rules for its functions should have been framed prior to the LG elections held on May 30, 2015. They said that masses had been deprived of this effective forum due to the lethargic attitude of the department.
[h=4]Under LG Act 2013, such forums were to be formed at the village council level[/h]
“The DRF is a sort of official jirga having deep roots in the Pakthun culture,” a senior official in the LG department told Dawn. The DRF would be a very effective forum as it would provide speedy and cheap justice to the masses in resolving the cases of petty nature, he said.
If established, the official said, DRF would also reduce burden of cases on the courts as people would contact nazims for getting their disputes resolved through this local forum free of cost. He said that DRF would be very helpful for the poor segment of the society as they would not need to hire lawyers for resolving their issues in courts.
The official said that people of the far away areas would get a forum at their respective councils to resolve their petty issues instead of going to the district courts located far away from their areas.
However, when asked a nazim of the neighbourhood council here showed unawareness about formation of DRF at the respective council. “No one from the local government department has told us to set up a panel of local members for resolution of disputes,” he said.
He said that it was the responsibility of the provincial government to arrange training workshops for the nazims of the lower tier of the local bodies to inform them about their responsibilities. The nazim demanded of the LG department to immediately frame rules for DRF and also issue instructions to the nazims for setting up such forums.
When contacted for comments, a senior official of the LG department said that the department had prepared a draft of the rules for functioning of DRF. “The rules for DRF will be approved soon after vetting them from the law department,” he said.
Malik Hashmat, who has worked as member of such dispute resolution bodies established under the Local Government Ordinance 2001, said that they had resolved small as well as major disputes in Akbarpura and its adjacent areas. He said that disputes related to local enmities, murders, land, family, loans, etc had been resolved amicably without taking a single penny from the involved parties.
Mr Hashmat said that if established such forums would be more fruitful under the existing LG system as the erstwhile union councils had now been divided into three to four village or neighbourhood councils. It means more DRFs would be established under the current system compared to the previous LG system, he said.
Published in Dawn, February 28th, 2016
http://www.dawn.com/news/1242402/no-rules-framed-to-set-up-dispute-resolution-forums
[h=1]Two get life term for abducting minor
[/h] PESHAWAR: An anti-terrorism court on Saturday convicted two persons for kidnapping a minor boy for ransom and sentenced them to life imprisonment.
The judge Mohammad Zafar Khan ruled that the prosecution had proved its case against the two accused persons named Gul Mohammad and Sadam, residents of Qilla Abdullah (Balochistan), and Sabzi Mandi Lahore, respectively.
They were accused of kidnapping a minor boy named Osama on Aug 6, 2014, from Peshawar’s Ring Road near Faqirabad area.
A state prosecutor contended that the boy had come to Peshawar from Lahore along with his uncle named Zaheer Abbas. He stated that the boy was kidnapped by the accused persons and they had demanded a ransom of Rs2 million from his uncle. Subsequently, he added that the two accused persons were arrested.
He contended that the evidence on record clearly connected the accused with the commission of the offence.
Published in Dawn, February 28th, 2016
http://www.dawn.com/news/1242399/two-get-life-term-for-abducting-minor
[h=1]Mansehra gets Rs1.54bn to address civic problems
[/h] MANSEHRA: Local deputy commissioner Iqbal Hussain on Friday said the provincial government had transferred Rs1.54 billion to the accounts of different organisations of the district government to address civic problems.
“The local government system has been benefiting people in the district as the government has so far transferred over Rs1.54 billion to the accounts of district councils, tehsil councils and village and neighbourhood councils. More funds are being expected soon,” Mr. Hussain told reporters at the press club here.
Assistant commissioner Mansehra Naveed Ahmad and tehsil nazim Mansehra Khuram Khan were also present on the occasion.
The deputy commissioner said the district council didn’t approve the budget under Section 35 of Local Government Act 2013 but the provincial government ensured the payment of salary to employees of the devolved departments.
[h=4]DC says he’s hopeful about early arrival of more funds[/h]
“We are optimistic that soon the developmental fund will also be released. I will suggest that mega schemes be executed immediately to prevent the lapse of funds,” he said.
The deputy commissioner said the National Highway Authority had been asked to ensure carpeting of Karakoram Highway from Mansehra onwards for the smooth traffic flow.
He asked representatives of local government to submit development schemes for early start of work them.
Tehsil nazim Khurram Khan said the land zoning system would be adopted in the city to end civic problems.
He said the NHA was going to begin carpeting of roads on Mansehra-Shinkiari portion of the KKH as currently, the highway condition was highly dilapidated and travellers and transports were suffering a lot on it.
GIRL BURNT: A young girl was burnt to death and six houses were gutted when a huge fire engulfed a street in Kamal Ban area of Kaghan valley on Thursday evening.
The cause of fire, which left six houses and goods worth millions of rupees gutted, has yet to be ascertained.
The local residents rescued people from the burning houses but Javaria, 5, who was asleep at that time, was burnt to death. The body was recovered after the fire was extinguished. The affected families demanded the immediate yet proper compensation for their loss.
Published in Dawn, February 27th, 2016
http://www.dawn.com/news/1242261/mansehra-gets-rs154bn-to-address-civic-problems
[h=1]
[/h]
[h=1]New bus service for Peshawar soon
[/h] PESHAWAR: Chief Minister Pervez Khattak has ordered operationalisation of 100 air-conditioned buses from Chamkani to Hayatabad to provide comfortable transportation services to the citizens.
According to a statement issued here on Sunday, the chief minister issued these directives while presiding over a high-level meeting convened to discuss Peshawar mass transit project at the Chief Minister’s Secretariat here.
The meeting was attended by special assistant to the CM for transport Shah Mohammad Wazir, MPAs Shaukat Yousafzai and Javed Nasim, district nazim Arbab Asim, chief secretary and representatives of the Asian Development Bank.
Secretary transport told the meeting that these 100 buses would be run at corridor-2 starting from Chamkani and ending at Karkhano Market in Hayatabad. He said the latest bus service would also be introduced at Ring Road and Hayatabad Township soon.
The chief minister ordered the authorities concerned to make the project beneficial for the citizens. He asked them to introduce 100 buses in the first phase and increase the number with the passage of time. The authorities concerned were also directed to float expression of interest to search a suitable firm for implementation of the project.
Highlighting the main features of the bus rapid transport project in Peshawar city, the secretary transport said that free feasibility of the project was already completed while feasibility study initiated in January this year would be completed till August.
He said engineering designing of the project to be initiated in July this year would be completed in November. He said construction work on the corridor-2 from Chamkani to Hayatabad would be initiated in January next year at a cost of Rs20 billion, which would be provided by the Asian Development Bank as loan to the provincial government.
Published in Dawn, February 29th, 2016
http://www.dawn.com/news/1242621/new-bus-service-for-peshawar-soon
[h=1]Children dying of diphtheria due to absence of vaccine
[/h] PESHAWAR: Children have been dying of diphtheria in southern districts and Malakand division owing to non-availability of vaccine and drugs required for treatment of the infected people, according to sources.
“Two children at a Darul Uloom (seminary) died of the total 37 students diagnosed positive for diphtheria, with six of them seriously, in Dir district,” Dr Ayub Roz, the deputy director of expanded programme on immunisation, told Dawn.
He said that government didn’t have DT vaccine to protect children above seven years as they were administering them diphtheria pertussis and tetanus (DPT) vaccine, which was meant for the children below seven years of age. “Low DPT coverage and non-availability of DT and anti-diphtheria serum are causing avoidable deaths,” he said.
However, Dr Ayub said that there was a shift from emphasis only on polio to other childhood vaccine-preventable diseases also. “Prevention of polio is very important but we are also giving more attention to other children ailments,” he added.
[h=4]EPI official says govt doesn’t have vaccine to protect children above seven[/h]
About outbreak of the disease in Dir, Dr Ayub said that they closed the seminary and isolated the infected people. He said that the district health officer didn’t communicate the incident to the health department on time.
Teams were immediately sent there after getting information about the disease from other sources, he said. “Our teams visited the Darul Uloom which housed 299 students including 50 per cent Afghans. They held counselling sessions with the teachers and elders of the nearby villages,” he added.
Dr Ayub said that health department was supposed to assist the districts in maintenance of cold-chain and help in patients’ treatment but the responsibility rested with the district health officers.
Sources in the health department told Dawn that the World Health Organisation had been providing anti-diphtheria serum (ADS) to them till 2015 but then asked the government to procure it from its own resources to save lives of children.
They said that outbreak of diphtheria was recently reported in Punjab where health department imported some 5,000 doses ADS. The WHO had also advised the health department to procure it from Punjab on loan basis to be given to the infected people.
Sources said that health department approached the WHO for supply of ADS but it had exhausted the stock. The world health agency used to provide free ADS to the people, affected by earthquake and flood but then it wanted the government to do it, they said. Only last year, the WHO provided ADS to more than 65 patients but then the people in vulnerable areas depended on government’ response, they added.
Sources said that ADS and DT, both were available in the international market which could be procured through the WHO and other relevant agencies to ensure standard and quality but the government had to allocate amount for it.
“The WHO informed the health department about the diphtheria-related deaths and incidents more than once but the latter was unmoved as it was preoccupied with anti-polio vaccination, leaving aside other vaccine-preventable diseases,” sources said.
They said that Malakand division and southern districts are the worst-hit areas where children suffered from low-immunity.
Published in Dawn, February 29th, 2016
http://www.dawn.com/news/1242618/children-dying-of-diphtheria-due-to-absence-of-vaccine
[h=1]View from the courtroom: KP only province lacking law to deal with domestic violence
[/h] After passage of the Punjab Protection of Women against Violence Bill, 2016, by the Punjab Assembly on Feb 24, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is now the only province left where no law has so far been enacted to deal with domestic violence. The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government has referred the draft of its proposed Domestic Violence (Prevention and Protection) Bill, 2014 to the Council of Islamic Ideology (CII) several months ago seeking its advice under Article 229 of the Constitution of Pakistan. The government now awaits the response of the council and there is no possibility of enactment of the law in near future.
Under Article 230 (1) (b) of the Constitution the functions of CII also include to advise a House, a Provincial Assembly, the President or a governor on any question referred to the council as to whether proposed law is or is not repugnant to the injunctions of Islam.
Furthermore, under sub-section 3 of Article 230 where a provincial assembly considers that, in the public interest, the making of the proposed law in relation to which the question arose should not be postponed until the advice of the council is furnished, the law may be made before the advice is furnished.
Sindh was the first where the provincial assembly had passed the Domestic Violence (Prevention and Protection) Act on March 8, 2013 and then approved by the governor on March 12 the same year. Similarly, in Balochistan the assembly had passed The Balochistan Domestic Violence (Prevention and Protection) Act on Feb 1, 2014 which was signed by the governor on Feb 11, 2014.
The draft bill of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the laws enacted by Sindh and Balochistan provinces were almost identical with slight variations. The law of Punjab was different in certain aspects from that of Sindh and Balochistan. While the enacted laws as well as the proposed KP law had been drawing criticism from certain quarters, including religious circles, the Act of Punjab has drawn more criticism compared to that of Sindh and Balochistan’.
One major difference between these laws is that the newly-enacted law of Punjab has declared only a woman as aggrieved person whereas in that of Sindh an aggrieved person also means a child or any other vulnerable person. The law of Balochistan and the KP proposed law in the definition of aggrieved person also include a man, apart from a woman, child or vulnerable person, who is or has been in a domestic relationship with the accused or defendant and who alleges to have been subjected to any act of domestic violence by the accused/ defendant.
Furthermore, the definition of “domestic violence” given in the laws of Sindh and Balochistan is very comprehensive, including several sub-sections and also provisions of Pakistan Penal Code. This definition includes different aspects of domestic violence, including emotional, psychological and verbal abuse; harassment; physical abuse; stalking; sexual abuse; trespass; economic abuse; wrongful confinement; criminal force; criminal intimidation; assault; etc.
The recently-passed law of Punjab includes a vague definition of “domestic violence” terming it violence committed by the defendant with whom the aggrieved is living or has lived in a house when they are related to each other by consanguinity, marriage or adoption. The law defines “violence” as any offence committed against a woman, including abetment of an offence, domestic violence, emotional, psychological and verbal abuse, economic abuse, stalking or a cybercrime.
In Sindh‘s law different penalties have been given for different forms of domestic violence, while no such penalties are available in the laws of Punjab and Balochistan. In these two laws, the only penalties are available for breach of protection order issued by the court. In the proposed law of KP both penalties are available for domestic violence as well as breach of a court’s protection order.
Moreover, the laws of Balochistan and Sindh include provisions related to protection committees having different composition and also appointment of protection officers assigned with different functions. In the Punjab law there are provisions of district women protection committee and district woman protection officers.
Under all the three laws the concerned court is empowered to issue a protection order in favour of an aggrieved person if it is satisfied that any violence has been committed or is likely to be committed and issue certain directives to the accused/ defendant.
In the Punjab law an interesting provision is related to the wearing of a tracker by a defendant. The court is empowered to issue directives to a defendant to “wear ankle or wrist bracelet GPS tracker to track the movement of the defendant round the clock.”
Experts believe that no such provision has presently been available in any other law in vogue in the country and apparently implementation of such provisions is very difficult.
One of the identical provisions is related to issuance of a residence order by the court, under which the court is empowered to direct that an aggrieved person shall not be evicted, save in accordance with law, from the house. The Punjab’s law further provides that an aggrieved person may be relocated from the house to the shelter home for purpose of relief, protection and rehabilitation.
This law also includes provision for establishing protection centres and shelter homes under a phased programme.
Social activists and legal experts wonder how a law, which is not considered repugnant to Islam in rests of the three provinces, has been sent by the KP government to the CII to seek its advice. “Even if the advice of the CII has not been submitted so far, the government has the constitutional powers to introduce the bill in the assembly and enact the required law,” said Shahnawaz Khan, an advocate of the Supreme Court.
Published in Dawn, February 29th, 2016
http://www.dawn.com/news/1242614/vi...ce-lacking-law-to-deal-with-domestic-violence
[h=1]Govt yet to take possession of historical sites in Swat
[/h] MINGORA: Despite directives of the chief minister to take possession of the 11 historical sites of Gandhara Civilisation, situated on privately owned land, the authorities have failed to purchase the land after two years.
Chief Minister Pervez Khattak, during his visit to Mallam Jabba snow festival on March 12, 2014, had directed the authorities concerned to take possession of the 11 most important archaeological sites in Swat.
The sites include Mahmood Ghaznavi Mosque, Barikot, Butkara III, Jurjurai Stupa, Shneysha Stupa, Abbasahib Cheena, Balokaley Gumbat, Ghalegay Statue, Jahanabad Buddha, Shingardar Stupa, Barikot Miana and Amluk Dara Stupa.
However, after two years the sites are still owned by individuals as the government failed to acquire them. The local cultural activists, archaeologists and members of civil society have shown concern over delay in acquiring the sites. They have demanded of the government to purchase the land and take possession of the historical sites immediately.
[h=4]Official says they wait for funds to pay the landowners[/h]
“These sites of Gandhara Civilisations are of great importance which are being demolished and destroyed,” said Usman Ulasyar, the chairman of Suvastu Arts and Culture Association.
He said that authorities should immediately purchase the sites otherwise people would stage protest against the provincial government. “If the directives of chief minister can go unanswered then who else can do this,” he questioned.
Dr Abdul Samad Khan, the director of archaeology and museums, said that the legal procedure of acquiring land of all the sites was completed. “Provincial government has sanctioned Rs284 million for all the sites and we are waiting for release of the amount. Once we get the amount, we will immediately pay the owners of the lands and will take possession of the sites,” he told Dawn.
Mahmood Khan, the provincial minister for archaeology, museums, sports and tourism, when contacted, said he would soon take up the matter of release of funds with the finance department.
“I will instantly inquire as to why the finance department is not releasing the already approved amount to archaeology department. I hope that within a week the amount will be transferred and sent to the district administration to pay it to the landowners,” he said.
The minister said that he would soon take tangible steps for promotion of cultural and archaeological tourism in Swat.
Published in Dawn, March 1st, 2016
http://www.dawn.com/news/1242775/govt-yet-to-take-possession-of-historical-sites-in-swat
[h=1]No rules framed to set up dispute resolution forums
[/h] PESHAWAR: The local government department is yet to set up dispute resolution forums at the village and neighbourhood councils for out-of-court settlement of disputes as relevant rules have so far not been framed despite enactment of the law over two years ago, according to officials.
Section 29 of The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Local Government Act, 2013, which defines functions of the councils, states that ‘the councils shall provide effective forum for amicable out-of-court settlement of disputes and, for this purpose, constitute panels of members as conciliators’.
Under the law, nazims of the village and neighbourhood councils have to chair panels of members constituted for amicable settlement of disputes in the respective councils.
The officials said that the local government department was responsible for making rules of business for the functions and setting up of the dispute resolution forums (DRF) under the law which was notified on Nov7, 2013. They said that the rules were mandatory for the functioning of the DRF because only a few lines had been mentioned in the law regarding it.
Stressing on the importance of DRF, they said that rules for its functions should have been framed prior to the LG elections held on May 30, 2015. They said that masses had been deprived of this effective forum due to the lethargic attitude of the department.
[h=4]Under LG Act 2013, such forums were to be formed at the village council level[/h]
“The DRF is a sort of official jirga having deep roots in the Pakthun culture,” a senior official in the LG department told Dawn. The DRF would be a very effective forum as it would provide speedy and cheap justice to the masses in resolving the cases of petty nature, he said.
If established, the official said, DRF would also reduce burden of cases on the courts as people would contact nazims for getting their disputes resolved through this local forum free of cost. He said that DRF would be very helpful for the poor segment of the society as they would not need to hire lawyers for resolving their issues in courts.
The official said that people of the far away areas would get a forum at their respective councils to resolve their petty issues instead of going to the district courts located far away from their areas.
However, when asked a nazim of the neighbourhood council here showed unawareness about formation of DRF at the respective council. “No one from the local government department has told us to set up a panel of local members for resolution of disputes,” he said.
He said that it was the responsibility of the provincial government to arrange training workshops for the nazims of the lower tier of the local bodies to inform them about their responsibilities. The nazim demanded of the LG department to immediately frame rules for DRF and also issue instructions to the nazims for setting up such forums.
When contacted for comments, a senior official of the LG department said that the department had prepared a draft of the rules for functioning of DRF. “The rules for DRF will be approved soon after vetting them from the law department,” he said.
Malik Hashmat, who has worked as member of such dispute resolution bodies established under the Local Government Ordinance 2001, said that they had resolved small as well as major disputes in Akbarpura and its adjacent areas. He said that disputes related to local enmities, murders, land, family, loans, etc had been resolved amicably without taking a single penny from the involved parties.
Mr Hashmat said that if established such forums would be more fruitful under the existing LG system as the erstwhile union councils had now been divided into three to four village or neighbourhood councils. It means more DRFs would be established under the current system compared to the previous LG system, he said.
Published in Dawn, February 28th, 2016
http://www.dawn.com/news/1242402/no-rules-framed-to-set-up-dispute-resolution-forums
[h=1]Two get life term for abducting minor
[/h] PESHAWAR: An anti-terrorism court on Saturday convicted two persons for kidnapping a minor boy for ransom and sentenced them to life imprisonment.
The judge Mohammad Zafar Khan ruled that the prosecution had proved its case against the two accused persons named Gul Mohammad and Sadam, residents of Qilla Abdullah (Balochistan), and Sabzi Mandi Lahore, respectively.
They were accused of kidnapping a minor boy named Osama on Aug 6, 2014, from Peshawar’s Ring Road near Faqirabad area.
A state prosecutor contended that the boy had come to Peshawar from Lahore along with his uncle named Zaheer Abbas. He stated that the boy was kidnapped by the accused persons and they had demanded a ransom of Rs2 million from his uncle. Subsequently, he added that the two accused persons were arrested.
He contended that the evidence on record clearly connected the accused with the commission of the offence.
Published in Dawn, February 28th, 2016
http://www.dawn.com/news/1242399/two-get-life-term-for-abducting-minor
[h=1]Mansehra gets Rs1.54bn to address civic problems
[/h] MANSEHRA: Local deputy commissioner Iqbal Hussain on Friday said the provincial government had transferred Rs1.54 billion to the accounts of different organisations of the district government to address civic problems.
“The local government system has been benefiting people in the district as the government has so far transferred over Rs1.54 billion to the accounts of district councils, tehsil councils and village and neighbourhood councils. More funds are being expected soon,” Mr. Hussain told reporters at the press club here.
Assistant commissioner Mansehra Naveed Ahmad and tehsil nazim Mansehra Khuram Khan were also present on the occasion.
The deputy commissioner said the district council didn’t approve the budget under Section 35 of Local Government Act 2013 but the provincial government ensured the payment of salary to employees of the devolved departments.
[h=4]DC says he’s hopeful about early arrival of more funds[/h]
“We are optimistic that soon the developmental fund will also be released. I will suggest that mega schemes be executed immediately to prevent the lapse of funds,” he said.
The deputy commissioner said the National Highway Authority had been asked to ensure carpeting of Karakoram Highway from Mansehra onwards for the smooth traffic flow.
He asked representatives of local government to submit development schemes for early start of work them.
Tehsil nazim Khurram Khan said the land zoning system would be adopted in the city to end civic problems.
He said the NHA was going to begin carpeting of roads on Mansehra-Shinkiari portion of the KKH as currently, the highway condition was highly dilapidated and travellers and transports were suffering a lot on it.
GIRL BURNT: A young girl was burnt to death and six houses were gutted when a huge fire engulfed a street in Kamal Ban area of Kaghan valley on Thursday evening.
The cause of fire, which left six houses and goods worth millions of rupees gutted, has yet to be ascertained.
The local residents rescued people from the burning houses but Javaria, 5, who was asleep at that time, was burnt to death. The body was recovered after the fire was extinguished. The affected families demanded the immediate yet proper compensation for their loss.
Published in Dawn, February 27th, 2016
http://www.dawn.com/news/1242261/mansehra-gets-rs154bn-to-address-civic-problems
[h=1]
[/h]
Syed Haider Imam
Chief Minister (5k+ posts)
Re: PTI's KPK Government Achievements
[h=1]Draft law empowers KP police chief, shrinks role of public safety bodies
[/h] PESHAWAR: A cabinet committee of the provincial government has finalised the draft of the proposed Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Police Act 2016 recommending increase in the provincial police chief’s powers and reduction in the role of public safety bodies introduced under the Police Order 2002.
The move to introduce the new police law has already generated a controversy, as the province’s civilian bureaucracy and police are engaged in a tug of war over powers and controls over the department.
Both sides have prepared separate drafts and a cabinet committee consisting of ministers and officials from both departments has reviewed both the drafts and prepared its recommendations.
“We have sent our recommendations to the chief minister,” Anisa Zeb Tahirkheli, KP minister for labour and mineral development, who is also a member of the cabinet committee, told Dawn.
Mrs. Tahirkheli said that the draft they have reviewed would be placed before the cabinet for approval.
[h=4]Changes to Police Order 2002 in the works[/h]
A comparison of both drafts shows the KP home department’s draft was more or less a copy of the Police Order 2002, while the one submitted has some marked differences from the police order, by giving police chief more powers and cutting the powers of safety bodies.
The procedure of the police chief’s appointment has been kept the same as they’re in the Police Order 2002 under which the provincial government from a panel of three officers recommended by the federal government posts a police officer as the IGP.
However, the power for the premature transfer or repatriation of the police chief has been given to the provincial government under the proposed law unlike the current one.
Under the Police Order, the power was available to the Provincial Public Safety and Police Complaints Commission.
The proposed law says the nomenclature of the provincial police officer (PPO) used in the order for the police chief has been reverted to the inspector general of police.
Under it, the police chief’s powers to appoint capital city police officer and district police officers has been increased in contrast to the 2002 police order, wherein the IGP was authorised to make these postings after the approval of the government.
Section 20 of the proposed act has done away with the government’s approval for the appointment and has fully authorised the police chief to appoint the CCPO and DPOs on his own.
Under the proposed law, the powers of the powerful provincial public safety commission, which under the police order is empowered to repatriate police chief have been considerably slashed under the proposed law. In future, this power will be given to the government.
The body will be able take cognisance of the police’s excesses but won’t probe matters relating to investigations of regional police officers and DPOs.
Under the police order, the provincial body was empowered to take cognisance of cases of police neglect, abuse of authority and conduct prejudicial to public interest against head of district police even on its own has now been stripped of this power and now only can conduct an inquiry against a district head on a resolution passed by district assembly for transfer of DPO.
Under the proposed act, commission upon receiving a complaint will refer it to IGP, who shall hold inquiry through relevant authorities within a period of 21 days. However, in case commission is not satisfied with the report, the chairman of the commission directs its enquiry panel to enquire and gave final report and its decision will be communicated to the relevant competent authority for appropriate action within 30 days.
In contrast to the police order, where the job of accountability was vested in the safety bodies, the new law proposes to set up parallel regional police complaint authorities to enquire into complaints against all police officials up to the rank of ASP or DSP.
In a bid to balance the police chief’s powers, the draft also provided some powers for the chief minister, who will hold and preside over periodical meetings on law and order to formulate policy and oversight.
The chief minister may also order an inquiry against a police officer for excess, neglect and abuse of authority.
Also counter militancy and terrorism has been included in police duties, besides binding the Special Branch to report to the police chief. Currently, it reports to the chief minister.
A senior government official told Dawn that an agreement had been reached over the police draft by giving some powers to the safety bodies and that it had the blessings of the PTI chief as well.
He however said it was unlikely to end the tug of war as the bureaucracy was not likely to go for it while the police won’t yield to bureaucratic control.
Published in Dawn, February 27th, 2016
http://www.dawn.com/news/1242270/draft-law-empowers-kp-police-chief-shrinks-role-of-public-safety-bodies
[h=1]Lakki village councils get Rs48m funds
[/h] [h=1]Lakki village councils get Rs48m funds[/h]
LAKKI MARWAT: The provincial government has provided the operational budget of Rs48 million to the 96 village and neighbourhood councils of the district for the current fiscal year.
Deputy commissioner Bakhtiar Khan gave away cheques to the nazims of village and neighbourhood councils at a function held in the Town Hall here on Friday. Officials of the Local Government and Rural Development Department were also present on the occasion.
Each village and neighbourhood council got Rs500,000 and the funds are meant to be spent on purchasing computers, furniture, stationary items, repair and renovation of official buildings of the councils and paying rent of the hired buildings.
The DC said that the provision of funds would enable the nazims to run offices and carry out their functions effectively.
He called upon the councillors to ensure transparent utilisation of funds and make sincere efforts to resolve problems being faced by people. [h=1]
http://www.dawn.com/news/1242265/lakki-village-councils-get-rs48m-funds
[/h]
[h=1]Draft law empowers KP police chief, shrinks role of public safety bodies
[/h] PESHAWAR: A cabinet committee of the provincial government has finalised the draft of the proposed Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Police Act 2016 recommending increase in the provincial police chief’s powers and reduction in the role of public safety bodies introduced under the Police Order 2002.
The move to introduce the new police law has already generated a controversy, as the province’s civilian bureaucracy and police are engaged in a tug of war over powers and controls over the department.
Both sides have prepared separate drafts and a cabinet committee consisting of ministers and officials from both departments has reviewed both the drafts and prepared its recommendations.
“We have sent our recommendations to the chief minister,” Anisa Zeb Tahirkheli, KP minister for labour and mineral development, who is also a member of the cabinet committee, told Dawn.
Mrs. Tahirkheli said that the draft they have reviewed would be placed before the cabinet for approval.
[h=4]Changes to Police Order 2002 in the works[/h]
A comparison of both drafts shows the KP home department’s draft was more or less a copy of the Police Order 2002, while the one submitted has some marked differences from the police order, by giving police chief more powers and cutting the powers of safety bodies.
The procedure of the police chief’s appointment has been kept the same as they’re in the Police Order 2002 under which the provincial government from a panel of three officers recommended by the federal government posts a police officer as the IGP.
However, the power for the premature transfer or repatriation of the police chief has been given to the provincial government under the proposed law unlike the current one.
Under the Police Order, the power was available to the Provincial Public Safety and Police Complaints Commission.
The proposed law says the nomenclature of the provincial police officer (PPO) used in the order for the police chief has been reverted to the inspector general of police.
Under it, the police chief’s powers to appoint capital city police officer and district police officers has been increased in contrast to the 2002 police order, wherein the IGP was authorised to make these postings after the approval of the government.
Section 20 of the proposed act has done away with the government’s approval for the appointment and has fully authorised the police chief to appoint the CCPO and DPOs on his own.
Under the proposed law, the powers of the powerful provincial public safety commission, which under the police order is empowered to repatriate police chief have been considerably slashed under the proposed law. In future, this power will be given to the government.
The body will be able take cognisance of the police’s excesses but won’t probe matters relating to investigations of regional police officers and DPOs.
Under the police order, the provincial body was empowered to take cognisance of cases of police neglect, abuse of authority and conduct prejudicial to public interest against head of district police even on its own has now been stripped of this power and now only can conduct an inquiry against a district head on a resolution passed by district assembly for transfer of DPO.
Under the proposed act, commission upon receiving a complaint will refer it to IGP, who shall hold inquiry through relevant authorities within a period of 21 days. However, in case commission is not satisfied with the report, the chairman of the commission directs its enquiry panel to enquire and gave final report and its decision will be communicated to the relevant competent authority for appropriate action within 30 days.
In contrast to the police order, where the job of accountability was vested in the safety bodies, the new law proposes to set up parallel regional police complaint authorities to enquire into complaints against all police officials up to the rank of ASP or DSP.
In a bid to balance the police chief’s powers, the draft also provided some powers for the chief minister, who will hold and preside over periodical meetings on law and order to formulate policy and oversight.
The chief minister may also order an inquiry against a police officer for excess, neglect and abuse of authority.
Also counter militancy and terrorism has been included in police duties, besides binding the Special Branch to report to the police chief. Currently, it reports to the chief minister.
A senior government official told Dawn that an agreement had been reached over the police draft by giving some powers to the safety bodies and that it had the blessings of the PTI chief as well.
He however said it was unlikely to end the tug of war as the bureaucracy was not likely to go for it while the police won’t yield to bureaucratic control.
Published in Dawn, February 27th, 2016
http://www.dawn.com/news/1242270/draft-law-empowers-kp-police-chief-shrinks-role-of-public-safety-bodies
[h=1]Lakki village councils get Rs48m funds
[/h] [h=1]Lakki village councils get Rs48m funds[/h]
LAKKI MARWAT: The provincial government has provided the operational budget of Rs48 million to the 96 village and neighbourhood councils of the district for the current fiscal year.
Deputy commissioner Bakhtiar Khan gave away cheques to the nazims of village and neighbourhood councils at a function held in the Town Hall here on Friday. Officials of the Local Government and Rural Development Department were also present on the occasion.
Each village and neighbourhood council got Rs500,000 and the funds are meant to be spent on purchasing computers, furniture, stationary items, repair and renovation of official buildings of the councils and paying rent of the hired buildings.
The DC said that the provision of funds would enable the nazims to run offices and carry out their functions effectively.
He called upon the councillors to ensure transparent utilisation of funds and make sincere efforts to resolve problems being faced by people. [h=1]
http://www.dawn.com/news/1242265/lakki-village-councils-get-rs48m-funds
[/h]
Syed Haider Imam
Chief Minister (5k+ posts)
MAR 02 2016
Syed Haider Imam
Chief Minister (5k+ posts)
Re: PTI's KPK Government Achievements
MAR 03 2016
نوٹ : مقامی اخبارات کی ای پیپر سے لنک کاپی پسٹ نہیں ہو رہا جسکی وجہ سے خبریں معمول سے کم ہیں
MAR 03 2016
نوٹ : مقامی اخبارات کی ای پیپر سے لنک کاپی پسٹ نہیں ہو رہا جسکی وجہ سے خبریں معمول سے کم ہیں
Last edited:
Syed Haider Imam
Chief Minister (5k+ posts)
Re: PTI's KPK Government Achievements
M4 04 2016
کیا فائر ایسے کرتے ہیں ؟
یہ بندوق کدھر رکھی ہے ، خاتوں کی تھوڑی اور ....تو اڑ گئی ہو گی
M4 04 2016
کیا فائر ایسے کرتے ہیں ؟
یہ بندوق کدھر رکھی ہے ، خاتوں کی تھوڑی اور ....تو اڑ گئی ہو گی
Syed Haider Imam
Chief Minister (5k+ posts)
Re: PTI's KPK Government Achievements
march 05 2016
march 05 2016
Syed Haider Imam
Chief Minister (5k+ posts)
Re: PTI's KPK Government Achievements
MAR 06 2016
MAR 06 2016
Syed Haider Imam
Chief Minister (5k+ posts)
Re: PTI's KPK Government Achievements
Youth carnival inaugurated in Peshawar
PESHAWAR: Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) chairman Imran Khan formally inaugurated the All-Pakistan Youth Carnival with the name of Mega Challenge (MC-16) at Qayyum Sports Complex here on Saturday.
Provincial minister for sports Mehmood Khan, other ministers, MPAs, chief secretary Amjad Khan, ACS Azam Khan, additional secretary sports and youth affairs Tariq Khan, DG Sports Rashida Ghaznavi, Usman Khan and his team Liaison Corporation (LC), the consultant partner for the MC-16, attended the ceremony and witnessed a grand gathering of over 1,500 participating student competitors from over 250 universities of the country.
Speaking on the occasion, Imran Khan lauded the efforts of holding the Mega Challenge in which a large number of students from various part of the country were taking part.
“You are our future builders of the nation,” Mr Khan said to the youth during his address. He said that Pakistan was blessed with a lot of resources and now they should guide the youth in the right direction so that they could be able to run the country as a progressive nation.
He advised the youth to get higher education so as to make Pakistan a progressive nation.
He asked the youth to adopt own cultural values rather than the western or anyone else’s culture.
“The youth should take active part in sports activities because it teaches us tolerance, and a way in which one should lose and the other should win. The loser will have to make more efforts to attain victory and the winner should continue hard work to maintain their position,” the PTI chief said.
The student competitors vie for the top honours in 27 different categories, including Qirat, Naat, drama, thematic art, painting, calligraphy, short filming, photography, Urdu and English singing, cultural dance, music band, English declamation (serious and humorous), Urdu declamation, English essay writing, Urdu essay writing, Bait Bazi, quiz, business plan, ad making, spelling bee, stand-up comedy, extraordinary talent, etc.
The MC-16 will continue for two days.
Published in Dawn, March 6th, 2016
http://www.dawn.com/news/1243862/youth-carnival-inaugurated-in-peshawar#comments
A ‘more independent, powerful’ Ehtesab Commission at hand
PESHAWAR: PTI chairman Imran Khan on Saturday said a totally new bill was being drafted for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to constitute a more independent and powerful Ehtesab Commission.
During a news conference at the Chief Minister’s House, the PTI chief admitted that the existing accountability act had created complications and therefore, it was necessary to bring another bill.
He said legal experts were likely to finalise the draft soon and once it happened, it would be submitted to the provincial cabinet for consent before its tabling in the assembly.
Accompanied by Chief Minister Pervez Khattak and his cabinet members, Imran Khan said a committee headed by senior lawyer Hamid Khan was preparing the draft.
“We are preparing a completely new bill to set up an independent Ehtesab Commission,” he said.
The PTI chief, who frequently claims credit for the establishment of an ‘independent and powerful’ Ehtesab Commission in the province, said retired lieutenant general Hamid Khan had resigned from the office of the KPEC director general as he had differences with the members of the commission and not the chief minister.
“There was no clash between Mr. (Pervez) Khattak and Hamid Khan,” he said.
Imran Khan said the ruling PTI was committed to setting up an independent Ehtesab Commission.
When asked the reasons for the repeated amendments to the accountability law, he said the government was new and that was why, the law was being amended now and then due to lack of experience.
Imran Khan says panel drafting new accountability bill for KP
The provincial assembly had passed the Ehtesab Act in Jan 2014 leading to the formation of the Ehtesab Commission.
The party circles, coalition partners and bureaucracy have reservations about the functioning of the (Ehtesab) Commission compelling the government to make changes in the relevant law.
KPEC DG Hamid Khan resigned from his office when the government curtailed his powers through an ordinance.
Citing reasons for his resignation, the DG said the commission had become toothless after the promulgation of the ordinance.
During the news conference, Imran Khan came down heavily on Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif for ‘threatening’ the National Accountability Bureau and said gone were the days when the people were hoodwinked through publicity campaign in the media.
“In the past, Sharif brothers considered themselves to royals. However, now, the social media is very powerful and the people can’t be deceived through advertisement campaign,” he said.
The PTI chief said the PML-N’s governments in the centre and Punjab were spending the taxpayers’ money on self-projection, which was wrong.
He said Shahbaz Sharif had challenged the rule of law by threatening the NAB.
Imran Khan said the prime minister and opposition leader had jointly appointed the NAB chairman.
He alleged that Sharif family was receiving huge kickbacks in the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor project.
The PTI chief said the federal government was building the eastern route of the CPEC to flourish the businesses of Sharif family in Punjab.
He said the Ehtesab Commission was working independently in KP as a sitting minister was arrested on corruption charges.
Imran Khan said Chief Minister Pervez Khattak had never pressured the Ehtesab Commission or sought its favours.
He said the Pakistan Institute of Legislation Development and Transparency had acknowledged that in KP, governance and transparency had improved and the incidence of corruption had reduced compared to the three other provinces.
When asked about a split in MQM and allegations of former Karachi nazim Mustafa Kamal against party chief Altaf Hussain, the PTI chief said Mustafa Kamal was very credible person.
He demanded the formation of a commission to look into the ‘revelations’ of Mustafa Kamal.
“I had revealed in 2007 that Altaf Hussain had connections with the Indian intelligence agency, RAW,” he said.
Imran Khan said 234 cases including those of murder were registered against the MQM chief but the successive governments didn’t take action against him in the name of the so-called reconciliation.
He said a reporter of an Indian newspaper, Hindustan Times, had told him that RAW had displayed posters of Altaf Hussain in New Delhi in 2003 when he was invited for a conference.
Published in Dawn, March 6th, 2016
http://www.dawn.com/news/1243860/a-more-independent-powerful-ehtesab-commission-at-hand
KP asks centre to include its four road, railway projects in CPEC
PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government has asked the federal government to include four more road and railway projects of the province in the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) as its components.
Chief Minister Pervez Khattak has written a letter to Federal Minister for Planning and Development Ahsan Iqbal, asking him to acknowledge his commitment to this effect in writing through a letter.
Through the letter dated March 4, a copy of which is available with Dawn, the chief minister has urged the federal government to include construction of a circular railway line from Peshawar to Nowshera, Mardan and Charsadda and back to Peshawar in CPEC.
Khattak writes to Ahsan Iqbal to seek written assurances about western route
Other projects include western railway track from Dera Ismail Khan to Peshawar, motorway from Dera Ismail Khan to Peshawar and motorway from Karak to Taxila via Jhand-Kohat.
Mr Khattak has also proposed to formally associate a representative of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government with CPEC Secretariat, Islamabad, on full-time basis. The letter also says that members of the provincial government will be included in the joint working groups, joint coordination committees and committees on energy, industry, and transport and any other committee of the CPEC from now onwards.
It said that the ground-breaking ceremony of the western route of CPEC would take place on July 18, 2016 and the Planning Commission would assure and communicate in writing about the funds availability and their allocation along fixed timelines for the western corridor and its allied facilities.
It notes that both sides had in their meeting on Feb 15 agreed on establishing eight industrial parks on the western route. These parks will be set up at Battagram, Mansehra, Haripur, Karnal Sher Khan Interchange on motorway, Malakand-Chakdarra interchange, Swat, Bannu and Dera Ismail Khan.
The provincial government will provide commercial feasibility of the industrial parks in due course of time.
The Planning Commission would initiate action to ensure that all requisite amenities like electricity, gas, phone lines, fiber optics, railway line and other relevant services will be provided by the federal government as soon as land is made available for these industrial parks.
The provincial government will provide land for the establishment of industrial parks, which will be included in the economic, transport and social sector policies as per CPEC components.
The letter notes that it will be extremely pertinent (for the centre) to reiterate and acknowledge its commitments through a letter in order to dispel misconceptions about the western corridor.
Published in Dawn, March 6th, 2016
http://www.dawn.com/news/1243845/kp-asks-centre-to-include-its-four-road-railway-projects-in-cpec
Youth carnival inaugurated in Peshawar
PESHAWAR: Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) chairman Imran Khan formally inaugurated the All-Pakistan Youth Carnival with the name of Mega Challenge (MC-16) at Qayyum Sports Complex here on Saturday.
Provincial minister for sports Mehmood Khan, other ministers, MPAs, chief secretary Amjad Khan, ACS Azam Khan, additional secretary sports and youth affairs Tariq Khan, DG Sports Rashida Ghaznavi, Usman Khan and his team Liaison Corporation (LC), the consultant partner for the MC-16, attended the ceremony and witnessed a grand gathering of over 1,500 participating student competitors from over 250 universities of the country.
Speaking on the occasion, Imran Khan lauded the efforts of holding the Mega Challenge in which a large number of students from various part of the country were taking part.
“You are our future builders of the nation,” Mr Khan said to the youth during his address. He said that Pakistan was blessed with a lot of resources and now they should guide the youth in the right direction so that they could be able to run the country as a progressive nation.
He advised the youth to get higher education so as to make Pakistan a progressive nation.
He asked the youth to adopt own cultural values rather than the western or anyone else’s culture.
“The youth should take active part in sports activities because it teaches us tolerance, and a way in which one should lose and the other should win. The loser will have to make more efforts to attain victory and the winner should continue hard work to maintain their position,” the PTI chief said.
The student competitors vie for the top honours in 27 different categories, including Qirat, Naat, drama, thematic art, painting, calligraphy, short filming, photography, Urdu and English singing, cultural dance, music band, English declamation (serious and humorous), Urdu declamation, English essay writing, Urdu essay writing, Bait Bazi, quiz, business plan, ad making, spelling bee, stand-up comedy, extraordinary talent, etc.
The MC-16 will continue for two days.
Published in Dawn, March 6th, 2016
http://www.dawn.com/news/1243862/youth-carnival-inaugurated-in-peshawar#comments
A ‘more independent, powerful’ Ehtesab Commission at hand
PESHAWAR: PTI chairman Imran Khan on Saturday said a totally new bill was being drafted for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to constitute a more independent and powerful Ehtesab Commission.
During a news conference at the Chief Minister’s House, the PTI chief admitted that the existing accountability act had created complications and therefore, it was necessary to bring another bill.
He said legal experts were likely to finalise the draft soon and once it happened, it would be submitted to the provincial cabinet for consent before its tabling in the assembly.
Accompanied by Chief Minister Pervez Khattak and his cabinet members, Imran Khan said a committee headed by senior lawyer Hamid Khan was preparing the draft.
“We are preparing a completely new bill to set up an independent Ehtesab Commission,” he said.
The PTI chief, who frequently claims credit for the establishment of an ‘independent and powerful’ Ehtesab Commission in the province, said retired lieutenant general Hamid Khan had resigned from the office of the KPEC director general as he had differences with the members of the commission and not the chief minister.
“There was no clash between Mr. (Pervez) Khattak and Hamid Khan,” he said.
Imran Khan said the ruling PTI was committed to setting up an independent Ehtesab Commission.
When asked the reasons for the repeated amendments to the accountability law, he said the government was new and that was why, the law was being amended now and then due to lack of experience.
Imran Khan says panel drafting new accountability bill for KP
The provincial assembly had passed the Ehtesab Act in Jan 2014 leading to the formation of the Ehtesab Commission.
The party circles, coalition partners and bureaucracy have reservations about the functioning of the (Ehtesab) Commission compelling the government to make changes in the relevant law.
KPEC DG Hamid Khan resigned from his office when the government curtailed his powers through an ordinance.
Citing reasons for his resignation, the DG said the commission had become toothless after the promulgation of the ordinance.
During the news conference, Imran Khan came down heavily on Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif for ‘threatening’ the National Accountability Bureau and said gone were the days when the people were hoodwinked through publicity campaign in the media.
“In the past, Sharif brothers considered themselves to royals. However, now, the social media is very powerful and the people can’t be deceived through advertisement campaign,” he said.
The PTI chief said the PML-N’s governments in the centre and Punjab were spending the taxpayers’ money on self-projection, which was wrong.
He said Shahbaz Sharif had challenged the rule of law by threatening the NAB.
Imran Khan said the prime minister and opposition leader had jointly appointed the NAB chairman.
He alleged that Sharif family was receiving huge kickbacks in the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor project.
The PTI chief said the federal government was building the eastern route of the CPEC to flourish the businesses of Sharif family in Punjab.
He said the Ehtesab Commission was working independently in KP as a sitting minister was arrested on corruption charges.
Imran Khan said Chief Minister Pervez Khattak had never pressured the Ehtesab Commission or sought its favours.
He said the Pakistan Institute of Legislation Development and Transparency had acknowledged that in KP, governance and transparency had improved and the incidence of corruption had reduced compared to the three other provinces.
When asked about a split in MQM and allegations of former Karachi nazim Mustafa Kamal against party chief Altaf Hussain, the PTI chief said Mustafa Kamal was very credible person.
He demanded the formation of a commission to look into the ‘revelations’ of Mustafa Kamal.
“I had revealed in 2007 that Altaf Hussain had connections with the Indian intelligence agency, RAW,” he said.
Imran Khan said 234 cases including those of murder were registered against the MQM chief but the successive governments didn’t take action against him in the name of the so-called reconciliation.
He said a reporter of an Indian newspaper, Hindustan Times, had told him that RAW had displayed posters of Altaf Hussain in New Delhi in 2003 when he was invited for a conference.
Published in Dawn, March 6th, 2016
http://www.dawn.com/news/1243860/a-more-independent-powerful-ehtesab-commission-at-hand
KP asks centre to include its four road, railway projects in CPEC
PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government has asked the federal government to include four more road and railway projects of the province in the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) as its components.
Chief Minister Pervez Khattak has written a letter to Federal Minister for Planning and Development Ahsan Iqbal, asking him to acknowledge his commitment to this effect in writing through a letter.
Through the letter dated March 4, a copy of which is available with Dawn, the chief minister has urged the federal government to include construction of a circular railway line from Peshawar to Nowshera, Mardan and Charsadda and back to Peshawar in CPEC.
Khattak writes to Ahsan Iqbal to seek written assurances about western route
Other projects include western railway track from Dera Ismail Khan to Peshawar, motorway from Dera Ismail Khan to Peshawar and motorway from Karak to Taxila via Jhand-Kohat.
Mr Khattak has also proposed to formally associate a representative of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government with CPEC Secretariat, Islamabad, on full-time basis. The letter also says that members of the provincial government will be included in the joint working groups, joint coordination committees and committees on energy, industry, and transport and any other committee of the CPEC from now onwards.
It said that the ground-breaking ceremony of the western route of CPEC would take place on July 18, 2016 and the Planning Commission would assure and communicate in writing about the funds availability and their allocation along fixed timelines for the western corridor and its allied facilities.
It notes that both sides had in their meeting on Feb 15 agreed on establishing eight industrial parks on the western route. These parks will be set up at Battagram, Mansehra, Haripur, Karnal Sher Khan Interchange on motorway, Malakand-Chakdarra interchange, Swat, Bannu and Dera Ismail Khan.
The provincial government will provide commercial feasibility of the industrial parks in due course of time.
The Planning Commission would initiate action to ensure that all requisite amenities like electricity, gas, phone lines, fiber optics, railway line and other relevant services will be provided by the federal government as soon as land is made available for these industrial parks.
The provincial government will provide land for the establishment of industrial parks, which will be included in the economic, transport and social sector policies as per CPEC components.
The letter notes that it will be extremely pertinent (for the centre) to reiterate and acknowledge its commitments through a letter in order to dispel misconceptions about the western corridor.
Published in Dawn, March 6th, 2016
http://www.dawn.com/news/1243845/kp-asks-centre-to-include-its-four-road-railway-projects-in-cpec
Syed Haider Imam
Chief Minister (5k+ posts)
Re: PTI's KPK Government Achievements
KP officials scratching heads about how to use Rs30bn LG funds
PESHAWAR: With just four months left to the end of the current fiscal, the local government department is struggling to use the much-trumpeted Rs30 billion funds allocated for the local bodies in the province.
The reason cited by the relevant officials for it is the absence of infrastructure and human resources at the department.
The officials told Dawn that though eight months of the financial year 2015-16 had passed, the LG department had yet to utilise a single penny of the funds.
They said the use of Rs30 billion by June 30 was impossible if technical and administrative staff members weren’t immediately appointed to the offices of assistant directors responsible for the execution of development projects suggested by the three-tier local bodies in all districts of the province.
The officials said the current staff at the assistant directors’ offices was tasked with the use of around Rs2 billion development funds before the introduction of the new LG system by the current government in April 2015.
Dept lacks infrastructure, human resources to spend money by June 30
According to them, the PTI-led provincial government had allocated Rs30 billion for local governments at district, tehsil, and village and neighbourhood levels after the May 30, 2015, elections.
Of the funds, Rs13.1 billion was for village and neighbourhood councils and Rs8.587 billion for the district and tehsil governments each.
An official said currently, the officials at the local government department and its offices set up in district level were scratching their heads about how to use such a huge amount of money in a short span of time with little technical and administrative staff members at their disposal.
He said the finance department had released Rs700 million for 346 village and neighbourhood councils of Peshawar only.
The official said the village and neighbourhood council nazims had so far just passed budgets and identified development schemes.
He said the actual work on schemes would begin after a lengthy process of PC-1 preparation, floating of tenders and bidding among contractors.
“The preparation of PC-1s is the responsibility of sub-engineers. There are only three engineers and four sub-engineers in the office of the assistant director for development schemes in 346 village and neighbourhood councils,” he said.
The official said the sub-engineers were also tasked with executing the city district government’s schemes regarding sanitation.
“Three engineers and four sub-engineers previously worked for the erstwhile 92 union councils having a meagre fund. They have been divided into 346 village and neighbourhood councils and given huge funds,” he said.
The official said though the Local Government Act, 2013, was introduced over two years ago, the local government department had not done homework for the establishment of three-tier local government system with unprecedented development funds.
He said for the successful execution of the development funds, the capacity building of the department was necessary.
“The local government department must conduct a comprehensive needs assessment survey in line with the government’s vision otherwise the unspent fund will put the government in an embarrassment situation,” he said.
When contacted, local government minister Inayatullah Khan said his department had engaged the technical staff i.e. sub-engineers from other departments for the ‘timely’ execution of development schemes suggested by the local bodies.
“Around 100 sub-engineers have been spared by the irrigation water management services department to help us execute development schemes. They will join us shortly,” he said.
The minister also said 35 more sub-engineers appointed to the Local Council Board would start working in the offices of the assistant directors on completion of the ongoing training.
He said the recruitment of 44 sub-engineers through the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Public Service Commission was in final stage.
“Once sub-engineers assume the charge, the use of funds will happen quickly,” he said.
Published in Dawn, March 5th, 2016
http://www.dawn.com/news/1243625/kp-officials-scratching-heads-about-how-to-use-rs30bn-lg-funds
Ex-minister among seven facing Rs98.65m corruption case
PESHAWAR: The National Accountability Bureau, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, on Thursday filed a reference with an accountability court against seven people, including former provincial minister, for causing a loss of Rs98.65 million to the exchequer.
The bureau has alleged that the accused had illegally transferred the precious government land to the Naval Families Rehabilitation Organisation (NFRO) and other individuals in Dera Ismail Khan.
Among the accused are former provincial minister for excise Syed Murid Kazim, absconding former SMBR Ahsanullah Khan, former district revenue officer Qayyum Nawaz, former district revenue and estate officer Riaz Mohammad, assistant at the Board of Revenue Gul Hassan, patwari Mulazim Hussain, and citizen Malik Abdur Rasheed.
In the case, Syed Murid Kazim, who was the minister in the previous ANP-PPP provincial government, was arrested by the NAB on Aug 3, 2015. He was later freed on bail granted by the Peshawar High Court on Sept 22.
NAB moves accountability court against illegal transfer of govt land
In the reference, the NAB alleged that Murid Kazim and other suspects were involved in the illegal transfer of valuable state land measuring 1,976 kanals in DI Khan to the NFRO in 2010 and the subsequent unlawful transfer of 182 kanals of residential land to the revenue department officials and others as kickback.
It added that the modus operandi adopted by the accused was that in 2009 the director NFRO, Bahawalpur, had sent an application stating 1,976 kanals of land allotted to the Pakistan Navy in DI Khan was not cultivable and therefore, it might be exchanged with better and cultivable land.
Under the rules, allotment of the alternate land was the competency of the chief minister of the province but the accused, Murid Kazim, being the revenue minister, abused his authority and directed the board of revenue to put up a note for allotment of alternate land to the NFRO Bahawalpur and gave illegal approval to the transfer of 1,976 kanals of land to the organisation.
According to the NAB, Murid Kazim got allotted 50 kanals of land in the name of his close associate, Syed Atta Hussain Shah. Similarly, Gul Hassan got 33 kanals of land in DI Khan and Qayyum Nawaz four kanals and three marlas of land in the heart of DI Khan city.
The former minister had already denied the charges and claimed that he had not received kickbacks in the allotment of land to the NFRO.
PROCEEDINGS STAYED: A Peshawar High Court bench on Thursday stayed the proceedings by an accountability court in a NAB reference against a couple for looting public at large in the guise of investment in the Islamic mode of investment.
Justice Qaiser Rasheed and Justice Syed Afsar Shah issued the notice to the NAB and sought explanation from it.
Ameenur Rehman, lawyer for the petitioners, including Iftikhar Hussain and wife Neelum Pari, said his clients had financial disputes with some influential persons in Mardan.
He added that a criminal and a civil case had been pending with the relevant courts in Mardan and therefore, the NAB had no authority to interfere in a purely civil dispute.
The lawyer said as his clients faced cases in courts in Mardan, they could not be tried by the accountability court as it amounted to double jeopardy, which was prohibited in the Constitution.
Published in Dawn, March 4th, 2016
http://www.dawn.com/news/1243429/ex-minister-among-seven-facing-rs9865m-corruption-case
UNDP to help councillors in service delivery
PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) have agreed in principle to jointly raise the capacity of the councillors and administrative staff of the village and neighbourhood councils to utilise development funds and improve service delivery at the lowest tier of the local governance in the province.
The UNDP team, led by chief technical adviser Dieter Wolkewitz, briefed senior minister for local government Inayatullah Khan on the joint venture at his office, says a statement issued here on Thursday.
Dieter Wolkewitz told the minister, who was assisted by Local Government and Rural Development Department (LG&RD) secretary Jamaluddin Shah, that the unutilised development funds needed to be used in a more judicious and speedy manner for which the training and capacity building of both the elected councillors and staff of the village and neighbourhood councils was essential.
The UNDP officials also said that the UN development agency would soon come up with a project of around $1.5 million for technical support and capacity building of the councillors across the province.
Officials say the UN agency to come up with $15m project
However, they said that the provincial government would also have to share 30 per cent of the project cost as its matching cost which would again be rechanneled to bring more donors to help the provincial government in local governance initiatives. It would also ensure community participation in development, planning and prioritisation.
The project will synchronise the development initiatives of the community-based organisations through active citizens’ engagement. It will train the elected representatives and administrative staff on the use of technology for e-governance.
The senior minister said that the provincial government had already moved a number of amendments to the Planning and Development (P&D) Guidelines to facilitate the strengthening of the councils and other institutions of the local government. He claimed that the LG&RD would be the strongest department of the provincial government in terms of human and capital resource management and service delivery.
He said that the LG&RD would submit a proposal to the Finance Department and P&D with all the terms and conditions of the UNDP project, including the cost-sharing mechanism to get approval for the same.
Published in Dawn, March 4th, 2
http://www.dawn.com/news/1243430/undp-to-help-councillors-in-service-delivery
KP officials scratching heads about how to use Rs30bn LG funds
PESHAWAR: With just four months left to the end of the current fiscal, the local government department is struggling to use the much-trumpeted Rs30 billion funds allocated for the local bodies in the province.
The reason cited by the relevant officials for it is the absence of infrastructure and human resources at the department.
The officials told Dawn that though eight months of the financial year 2015-16 had passed, the LG department had yet to utilise a single penny of the funds.
They said the use of Rs30 billion by June 30 was impossible if technical and administrative staff members weren’t immediately appointed to the offices of assistant directors responsible for the execution of development projects suggested by the three-tier local bodies in all districts of the province.
The officials said the current staff at the assistant directors’ offices was tasked with the use of around Rs2 billion development funds before the introduction of the new LG system by the current government in April 2015.
Dept lacks infrastructure, human resources to spend money by June 30
According to them, the PTI-led provincial government had allocated Rs30 billion for local governments at district, tehsil, and village and neighbourhood levels after the May 30, 2015, elections.
Of the funds, Rs13.1 billion was for village and neighbourhood councils and Rs8.587 billion for the district and tehsil governments each.
An official said currently, the officials at the local government department and its offices set up in district level were scratching their heads about how to use such a huge amount of money in a short span of time with little technical and administrative staff members at their disposal.
He said the finance department had released Rs700 million for 346 village and neighbourhood councils of Peshawar only.
The official said the village and neighbourhood council nazims had so far just passed budgets and identified development schemes.
He said the actual work on schemes would begin after a lengthy process of PC-1 preparation, floating of tenders and bidding among contractors.
“The preparation of PC-1s is the responsibility of sub-engineers. There are only three engineers and four sub-engineers in the office of the assistant director for development schemes in 346 village and neighbourhood councils,” he said.
The official said the sub-engineers were also tasked with executing the city district government’s schemes regarding sanitation.
“Three engineers and four sub-engineers previously worked for the erstwhile 92 union councils having a meagre fund. They have been divided into 346 village and neighbourhood councils and given huge funds,” he said.
The official said though the Local Government Act, 2013, was introduced over two years ago, the local government department had not done homework for the establishment of three-tier local government system with unprecedented development funds.
He said for the successful execution of the development funds, the capacity building of the department was necessary.
“The local government department must conduct a comprehensive needs assessment survey in line with the government’s vision otherwise the unspent fund will put the government in an embarrassment situation,” he said.
When contacted, local government minister Inayatullah Khan said his department had engaged the technical staff i.e. sub-engineers from other departments for the ‘timely’ execution of development schemes suggested by the local bodies.
“Around 100 sub-engineers have been spared by the irrigation water management services department to help us execute development schemes. They will join us shortly,” he said.
The minister also said 35 more sub-engineers appointed to the Local Council Board would start working in the offices of the assistant directors on completion of the ongoing training.
He said the recruitment of 44 sub-engineers through the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Public Service Commission was in final stage.
“Once sub-engineers assume the charge, the use of funds will happen quickly,” he said.
Published in Dawn, March 5th, 2016
http://www.dawn.com/news/1243625/kp-officials-scratching-heads-about-how-to-use-rs30bn-lg-funds
Ex-minister among seven facing Rs98.65m corruption case
PESHAWAR: The National Accountability Bureau, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, on Thursday filed a reference with an accountability court against seven people, including former provincial minister, for causing a loss of Rs98.65 million to the exchequer.
The bureau has alleged that the accused had illegally transferred the precious government land to the Naval Families Rehabilitation Organisation (NFRO) and other individuals in Dera Ismail Khan.
Among the accused are former provincial minister for excise Syed Murid Kazim, absconding former SMBR Ahsanullah Khan, former district revenue officer Qayyum Nawaz, former district revenue and estate officer Riaz Mohammad, assistant at the Board of Revenue Gul Hassan, patwari Mulazim Hussain, and citizen Malik Abdur Rasheed.
In the case, Syed Murid Kazim, who was the minister in the previous ANP-PPP provincial government, was arrested by the NAB on Aug 3, 2015. He was later freed on bail granted by the Peshawar High Court on Sept 22.
NAB moves accountability court against illegal transfer of govt land
In the reference, the NAB alleged that Murid Kazim and other suspects were involved in the illegal transfer of valuable state land measuring 1,976 kanals in DI Khan to the NFRO in 2010 and the subsequent unlawful transfer of 182 kanals of residential land to the revenue department officials and others as kickback.
It added that the modus operandi adopted by the accused was that in 2009 the director NFRO, Bahawalpur, had sent an application stating 1,976 kanals of land allotted to the Pakistan Navy in DI Khan was not cultivable and therefore, it might be exchanged with better and cultivable land.
Under the rules, allotment of the alternate land was the competency of the chief minister of the province but the accused, Murid Kazim, being the revenue minister, abused his authority and directed the board of revenue to put up a note for allotment of alternate land to the NFRO Bahawalpur and gave illegal approval to the transfer of 1,976 kanals of land to the organisation.
According to the NAB, Murid Kazim got allotted 50 kanals of land in the name of his close associate, Syed Atta Hussain Shah. Similarly, Gul Hassan got 33 kanals of land in DI Khan and Qayyum Nawaz four kanals and three marlas of land in the heart of DI Khan city.
The former minister had already denied the charges and claimed that he had not received kickbacks in the allotment of land to the NFRO.
PROCEEDINGS STAYED: A Peshawar High Court bench on Thursday stayed the proceedings by an accountability court in a NAB reference against a couple for looting public at large in the guise of investment in the Islamic mode of investment.
Justice Qaiser Rasheed and Justice Syed Afsar Shah issued the notice to the NAB and sought explanation from it.
Ameenur Rehman, lawyer for the petitioners, including Iftikhar Hussain and wife Neelum Pari, said his clients had financial disputes with some influential persons in Mardan.
He added that a criminal and a civil case had been pending with the relevant courts in Mardan and therefore, the NAB had no authority to interfere in a purely civil dispute.
The lawyer said as his clients faced cases in courts in Mardan, they could not be tried by the accountability court as it amounted to double jeopardy, which was prohibited in the Constitution.
Published in Dawn, March 4th, 2016
http://www.dawn.com/news/1243429/ex-minister-among-seven-facing-rs9865m-corruption-case
UNDP to help councillors in service delivery
PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) have agreed in principle to jointly raise the capacity of the councillors and administrative staff of the village and neighbourhood councils to utilise development funds and improve service delivery at the lowest tier of the local governance in the province.
The UNDP team, led by chief technical adviser Dieter Wolkewitz, briefed senior minister for local government Inayatullah Khan on the joint venture at his office, says a statement issued here on Thursday.
Dieter Wolkewitz told the minister, who was assisted by Local Government and Rural Development Department (LG&RD) secretary Jamaluddin Shah, that the unutilised development funds needed to be used in a more judicious and speedy manner for which the training and capacity building of both the elected councillors and staff of the village and neighbourhood councils was essential.
The UNDP officials also said that the UN development agency would soon come up with a project of around $1.5 million for technical support and capacity building of the councillors across the province.
Officials say the UN agency to come up with $15m project
However, they said that the provincial government would also have to share 30 per cent of the project cost as its matching cost which would again be rechanneled to bring more donors to help the provincial government in local governance initiatives. It would also ensure community participation in development, planning and prioritisation.
The project will synchronise the development initiatives of the community-based organisations through active citizens’ engagement. It will train the elected representatives and administrative staff on the use of technology for e-governance.
The senior minister said that the provincial government had already moved a number of amendments to the Planning and Development (P&D) Guidelines to facilitate the strengthening of the councils and other institutions of the local government. He claimed that the LG&RD would be the strongest department of the provincial government in terms of human and capital resource management and service delivery.
He said that the LG&RD would submit a proposal to the Finance Department and P&D with all the terms and conditions of the UNDP project, including the cost-sharing mechanism to get approval for the same.
Published in Dawn, March 4th, 2
http://www.dawn.com/news/1243430/undp-to-help-councillors-in-service-delivery
Syed Haider Imam
Chief Minister (5k+ posts)
Re: PTI's KPK Government Achievements
Accord with centre a godsend for cash-strapped KP
PESHAWAR: The last week’s agreement signed by the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and federal governments to resolve several longstanding issues is being viewed in the provincial capital as a solution to the province’s current financial woes.
On Feb 25, the two governments signed a memorandum of understanding to resolve several pending issues, including the net hydel profit arrears, uncapping of the NHP, and those related to gas and water sectors.
Currently, the PTI-led KP faces a severe cash shortfall amounting to Rs100 billion.
The financial crunch has earlier last month prompted the provincial finance department to identify the Rs77 billion chunk of the annual development programme to be curtailed over the unavailability of funds.
PTI-led province facing Rs100bn cash shortfall
However, officials in Peshawar said the agreement if implemented in letter and spirit would provide the province with much needed financial cushion.
Under the deal, the province is likely to get Rs25 billion for the current fiscal year and three yearly installments of Rs15 billion each.
In addition, the federal government will notify the Nepra’s decision to uncap the province’s NHP share from the current Rs6 billion to over Rs18 billion with five per cent annual increase.
Also, the province is likely to get Rs250 million per annum after the power purchase agreement of the Pehur hydropower project is signed and the amount will be in addition to Rs954 million accumulated dues.
A senior government official, who attended the February 25 meeting, told Dawn that the centre had pay Rs144 billion dues to the province.
He said the federal government initially offered KP Rs50 billion in lieu of arrears of the NHP; however, chief minister did not agree to it. “After much give and take, both sides agreed on Rs70 billion,” the official said.
The official said the Rs70 billion amount had been agreed after reconciling the federal government’s power sector dues against the province.
He said the agreement was likely to resolve the province’s current financial woes as the province would get over Rs40 billion during the current fiscal. The official said the centre had also agreed to give 100MMCFD natural gas to the province for power generation.
He said the KP chief minister wanted natural gas to run local industries but the federal government didn’t agree to it saying gas could be used for power generation only.
The details available with Dawn showed that the monetary calculations finalised on Feb 25 were agreed towards the end of the ANP government.
It was March 13, 2013, few days before the end of the ANP government, wherein it was decided that the province will get Rs56 billion as markup on Rs110 billion arrears of the NHP, which the province gets from the federal government under a deal signed under the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal government.
The principal NHP amount for the 2005-2012 period at various rates amounted to Rs45 billion, while the same amount determined at the rate of Rs1.10 per kilowatt hour contributes another Rs43 billion to the province’s share, making a total of Rs114.59 billion.
It was also agreed that the federal government’s liabilities would be deducted from that amount.
An official said the provincial government had earlier thought of backtracking from the previous government’s agreement but later agreed to the deal over the severe revenue shortfall. He said though Rs25 billion was not a big amount, it could alleviate the province’s cash problem for the time being.
However, a finance department official expressed skepticism about the agreement saying he could not say something with certainty until the province starts receiving the promised money.
“They (the centre) made promises on several occasions in the past but later backtracked on them,” he said.
Provincial finance minister Muzaffar Said could not be contacted for comments.
Published in Dawn, March 3rd, 2016
http://www.dawn.com/news/1243249/accord-with-centre-a-godsend-for-cash-strapped-kp
Explosives seized in Swabi
SWABI: The police claimed on Wednesday to have foiled a sabotage bid by recovering 600 kilogrammes of explosives here.
DPO Javid Iqbal told Dawn that the explosives were seized from a truck in Maneri Payyan region in the jurisdiction of Swabi city police station. He added that the explosives were concealed in building blocks loaded onto the truck.
Mr Iqbal said seeing the police personnel, the driver and his helpers abandoned the truck and fled.
The DPO said apparently the explosives were meant for use in terrorist activities. However, he said, investigations were underway to get to the bottom of the matter.
In a separate development, police recovered 36,000 yards safety fuses from a car in Parmuli area, and arrested its driver named Nawaz Khan belonging to Mardan.
The police registered cases in both the incidents.
Published in Dawn, March 3rd, 2016
http://www.dawn.com/news/1243236/explosives-seized-in-swabi
Accord with centre a godsend for cash-strapped KP
PESHAWAR: The last week’s agreement signed by the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and federal governments to resolve several longstanding issues is being viewed in the provincial capital as a solution to the province’s current financial woes.
On Feb 25, the two governments signed a memorandum of understanding to resolve several pending issues, including the net hydel profit arrears, uncapping of the NHP, and those related to gas and water sectors.
Currently, the PTI-led KP faces a severe cash shortfall amounting to Rs100 billion.
The financial crunch has earlier last month prompted the provincial finance department to identify the Rs77 billion chunk of the annual development programme to be curtailed over the unavailability of funds.
PTI-led province facing Rs100bn cash shortfall
However, officials in Peshawar said the agreement if implemented in letter and spirit would provide the province with much needed financial cushion.
Under the deal, the province is likely to get Rs25 billion for the current fiscal year and three yearly installments of Rs15 billion each.
In addition, the federal government will notify the Nepra’s decision to uncap the province’s NHP share from the current Rs6 billion to over Rs18 billion with five per cent annual increase.
Also, the province is likely to get Rs250 million per annum after the power purchase agreement of the Pehur hydropower project is signed and the amount will be in addition to Rs954 million accumulated dues.
A senior government official, who attended the February 25 meeting, told Dawn that the centre had pay Rs144 billion dues to the province.
He said the federal government initially offered KP Rs50 billion in lieu of arrears of the NHP; however, chief minister did not agree to it. “After much give and take, both sides agreed on Rs70 billion,” the official said.
The official said the Rs70 billion amount had been agreed after reconciling the federal government’s power sector dues against the province.
He said the agreement was likely to resolve the province’s current financial woes as the province would get over Rs40 billion during the current fiscal. The official said the centre had also agreed to give 100MMCFD natural gas to the province for power generation.
He said the KP chief minister wanted natural gas to run local industries but the federal government didn’t agree to it saying gas could be used for power generation only.
The details available with Dawn showed that the monetary calculations finalised on Feb 25 were agreed towards the end of the ANP government.
It was March 13, 2013, few days before the end of the ANP government, wherein it was decided that the province will get Rs56 billion as markup on Rs110 billion arrears of the NHP, which the province gets from the federal government under a deal signed under the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal government.
The principal NHP amount for the 2005-2012 period at various rates amounted to Rs45 billion, while the same amount determined at the rate of Rs1.10 per kilowatt hour contributes another Rs43 billion to the province’s share, making a total of Rs114.59 billion.
It was also agreed that the federal government’s liabilities would be deducted from that amount.
An official said the provincial government had earlier thought of backtracking from the previous government’s agreement but later agreed to the deal over the severe revenue shortfall. He said though Rs25 billion was not a big amount, it could alleviate the province’s cash problem for the time being.
However, a finance department official expressed skepticism about the agreement saying he could not say something with certainty until the province starts receiving the promised money.
“They (the centre) made promises on several occasions in the past but later backtracked on them,” he said.
Provincial finance minister Muzaffar Said could not be contacted for comments.
Published in Dawn, March 3rd, 2016
http://www.dawn.com/news/1243249/accord-with-centre-a-godsend-for-cash-strapped-kp
Explosives seized in Swabi
SWABI: The police claimed on Wednesday to have foiled a sabotage bid by recovering 600 kilogrammes of explosives here.
DPO Javid Iqbal told Dawn that the explosives were seized from a truck in Maneri Payyan region in the jurisdiction of Swabi city police station. He added that the explosives were concealed in building blocks loaded onto the truck.
Mr Iqbal said seeing the police personnel, the driver and his helpers abandoned the truck and fled.
The DPO said apparently the explosives were meant for use in terrorist activities. However, he said, investigations were underway to get to the bottom of the matter.
In a separate development, police recovered 36,000 yards safety fuses from a car in Parmuli area, and arrested its driver named Nawaz Khan belonging to Mardan.
The police registered cases in both the incidents.
Published in Dawn, March 3rd, 2016
http://www.dawn.com/news/1243236/explosives-seized-in-swabi
Syed Haider Imam
Chief Minister (5k+ posts)
March 07 2016
Syed Haider Imam
Chief Minister (5k+ posts)
Re: PTI's KPK Government Achievements
March 08 2016
March 08 2016
Syed Haider Imam
Chief Minister (5k+ posts)
Re: PTI's KPK Government Achievements
March 09 2016
March 09 2016
Syed Haider Imam
Chief Minister (5k+ posts)
Re: PTI's KPK Government Achievements
March 10 2016
March 10 2016
Syed Haider Imam
Chief Minister (5k+ posts)
Re: PTI's KPK Government Achievements
[h=1]27 wanted criminals arrested in Kohat
[/h]KOHAT: The police on Wednesday arrested 92 outlaws, including 27 proclaimed offenders, during a search operation in the district.
The operation was carried out in the jurisdictions of police stations Cantt, City, Janglekhel, Ustarzai, Mohammad Riaz Shaheed, KDA, Jarma, Billitang, Gumbat, Lachi and Shakardarra.
According to police, the proclaimed offenders included Sajjad, Rashid, Fazal Rehman, Sohail, Gul Faraz, Khan Zameer, Mansoor Khan, Kamran Ali, Wahid Rehman, Sohail Masoor, Said Ameen, Noor Zaman, Naushad Ali, Samiullah, Lais, Sabir Hussain, Baseer, Niaz Mohammad, Waqas, Naseer, Farid, Mohammad Rehman, Saifur Rehman, Aziz, Hafiz Khan, Mohammad Niaz and Asghar Hussain.
They were wanted to the police in various criminal cases.
During the operation the police also seized three Kalashnikovs, five shotguns, four rifles, 14 pistols, 17 chargers, one dagger, fireworks and 7.5kgs of hashish.
According to sources, the action was ordered by district police officer Sohaib Ashraf.
Meanwhile, unidentified terrorists attacked a school in Bahadar Kot area of Kohat with a hand grenade on Wednesday night.
Sources said that unidentified terrorists attacked a private school located in Bahadar Kot village and escaped.
No loss of life was reported in the attack.
A case has been registered in the police station CTD, Kohat region, against unknown attackers.
http://www.dawn.com/news/1244751/27-wanted-criminals-arrested-in-kohat
[h=1]Widening of Peshawar’s University Road begins
[/h] PESHAWAR: Chief Minister Pervez Khattak on Wednesday performed ground-breaking of the improvement and widening of the University Road here on Wednesday.
Provincial ministers, parliamentarians and high ranking government officers attended the ceremony on the occasion.
Speaking on the occasion, the chief minister said the university road project was initiated to make the road feasible for plying 100 modern air-conditioned buses on it. He informed that the improvement of corridor-2 from Chamkani to Hayatabad would be initiated next year with the financial assistance of Asian Development Bank.
Senior Minister for Local Government Inayatullah Khan and Peshawar Development Authority (PDA) Director General Mohammad Saleem Watto also addressed the ceremony.
Mr Khattak said the roads on banks of canals in Peshawar were constructed to solve traffic problems in the city. He said work on northern bypass road was in full swing. Similarly, he said a food street would be established at Hayatabad next month.
He said development work on Regi Model Town was in progress while sports clubs would be established in ladies club at a cost of Rs15 million.
He said beautification work on GT Road from Motorway to Bala-i-Hisar was continuing.
Mr Khattak said after establishment of WSSP, 80 per cent improvement was recorded in sanitation of the provincial capital while the same service had also been extended to districts. The CM said cleanliness was made as an essential responsibility of the district government.
The chief minister directed the district administration to remove impediments from roads. He also ordered removal of sandbags around police stations to facilitate easy movement of people.
The chief minister stressed the need of collective vision, judicious use of national resources and maintaining quality of development work to achieve the goal of national development and prosperity.
He said without checking political interference, rectification of the ills was not possible. He asked the elected representatives to refrain from interfering into the affairs of departments and uphold merit and ensure provision of justice to people. He asked the people to identify the wrongdoers.
Earlier, Local Government Minister Inayatullah Khan said a number of mega development projects would be initiated in the provincial metropolis within next few months. He said the government was striving to restore the old glory of the terrorism-hit city.
PDA Director General Mohammad Saleem said a 16km-long Jamrud road improvement project would cost Rs102 million and would be completed in five months. He said the project would be capable of catering to traffic problems for 10 years.
Published in Dawn, March 10th, 2016
http://www.dawn.com/news/1244750/widening-of-peshawars-university-road-begins
[h=1]Body formed to probe fund embezzlement
[/h] KARAK: The district administration has formed a committee to probe alleged embezzlement in the funds of conditional grant provided to the educational institutions for provision of missing facilities.
The members of the committee, Assistant Commissioner Shiraz Khan and District Monitoring Officer Khursheed Khattak, paid a visit to government high school for girls in Ahmadabad to check utilisation of the funds.
They termed the record of Rs4 million, provided to the school for provision of missing facilities, incomplete and directed the school administration to provide complete record of the funds.
SMUGGLERS HELD: Police claimed to have arrested three alleged smugglers of crude oil and seized 1,760 litters crude oil from them here on Wednesday.
A statement, issued by police, said that SHO Gurguri Shabaraz Khan intercepted a pickup truck bearing registration number B-2667 that was carrying crude oil.
Police arrested three suspects identified as Nasir Khan, Sanaullah and Faiz Mohammad, all residents of Sherpao area in Charsadda district.
Police registered FIR against the suspects and started investigations.
Published in Dawn, March 10th, 2016
http://www.dawn.com/news/1244743/body-formed-to-probe-fund-embezzlement
[h=1]Mineral protection force to be set up in KP
[/h]PESHAWAR: Provincial Minister for Mines, Mineral Development and Labour Anisa Zeb Tahirkheli has said the provincial government would set up a mineral protection force to protect mines and mineral resources from illegal excavation.
She was speaking at a consultative meeting on the proposed KP Minerals Development Regulation Act, 2016, here on Wednesday. The consultative session was organised by the mines and mineral development in collaboration with the mines owners, according to a press release.
Mines Development Department Secretary Dr Attaur Rehman, director general Fazal Wahid, Pakistan Stone Development Company chairman Agha Shahid, Frontier Mines Owners Association president Sher Bandi Marwat and others also shared their views on the occasion and gave suggestions for incorporation in the proposed law.
The minister said all the stakeholders would be taken on board before finalising the new proposed law. The proposed act would be tabled in the provincial assembly as a bill and its Urdu version would also be prepared for mines owners so that they could pinpoint loopholes and give suggestions for making it more useful, she added. She said the proposed act was aimed at protecting rights of mines owners, increasing provincial revenue and curbing illegal excavation.
Ms Tahirkheli said that all possible steps would be taken to replace the primitive techniques for excavation of mines with modern technology in order to secure the national wealth from destruction. She said that none of the successive governments had ever tried to make legislation to replace the 1923 mines law, adding under the 18th constitutional amendment provinces were authorised to make own laws for the purpose.
The new law, she said would cover all factors, including mines safety, royalty and methods for excavation.
Published in Dawn, March 10th, 20
http://www.dawn.com/news/1244748/mineral-protection-force-to-be-set-up-in-kp
[h=1]Project approved to develop park[/h]
LAKKI MARWAT: The provincial government has approved a project to develop and effectively manage Sheikh Badin national park to promote ecotourism and raise the livelihood of local communities in Lakki Marwat and DI Khan districts.
Established as a game sanctuary in 1972 by the government the mountainous range of Sheikh Badin was declared as a national park in 1993 over an area of 15,540 hectares, but so far no infrastructure was developed.
In this regard, deputy commissioner Mohammad Bakhtiar Khan presided over a meeting on Tuesday, which was also attended by Bannu district forest officer Khan Malook and DI Khan DFO Sajeel Ahmad. Mr Malook told the meeting that under the project entry gate of the park, office and residences of officials, information centre, dormitory, park complex and other facilities would be established.
He said that the park association and village conservation committees would also be set up to implement the relevant activities. He said that development of the park would help increase livelihood opportunities for the local communities.
Mr Bakhtiar said that the administration would provide assistance to the wildlife department to promote tourism and conserve wildlife in the district.
He said that the project was essential for the promotion of ecotourism in southern region of province. He said that the district administration would provide an old building located on top of Sheikh Badin Mountain for setting up the park complex.
He said that rehabilitation of the British era building and its use as park complex would save funds reserved for buying land and establishing such a complex on it.
He urged the provincial government to ensure black topping of the Sheikh Badin road and availability of water in the park.
Published in Dawn, March 9th, 2016
http://www.dawn.com/news/1244478/project-approved-to-develop-park
[h=1]Policemen on contract not paid salary since January
[/h]TIMERGARA: The contractual special police officials working in Lower Dir on Tuesday complained they had not been paid salary for the last three months.
They said the issue had distressed them and family members.
“I didn’t pay my children’s school fees during the last three months,” a special police official told reporters here requesting anonymity.
He demanded regularisation of his and colleagues’ services.
Another such official said the police inducted thousands of people, mostly retired army personnel, in 2009 on contractual basis for two years when the officials of the regular police force were quitting job due to the growing militancy in Swat, Dir, Buner, Malakand and Bajaur.
[h=4]DPO says money okayed, matter will be resolved in a week[/h]
He said the contracts of SPOs were later extended. According to him, these officials initially got Rs10,000 monthly salary, which was later increased by the present government to Rs15,000.
The official said SPOs had been diligently doing duty at checkpoints and police stations and during anti-polio campaigns but they had not been paid salary since January this year.
He said SPOs were upset at lack of money and that they might quit job if non-payment of salary continued.
When contacted, Lower Dir district police officer Qasim Ali Khan confirmed the non-payment of salary to the SPOs and blamed it on the unavailability of funds.
He however said the finance department had approved money for purpose and that hopefully, the issue would be resolved within a week.
http://www.dawn.com/news/1244505/policemen-on-contract-not-paid-salary-since-january
[h=1]27 wanted criminals arrested in Kohat
[/h]KOHAT: The police on Wednesday arrested 92 outlaws, including 27 proclaimed offenders, during a search operation in the district.
The operation was carried out in the jurisdictions of police stations Cantt, City, Janglekhel, Ustarzai, Mohammad Riaz Shaheed, KDA, Jarma, Billitang, Gumbat, Lachi and Shakardarra.
According to police, the proclaimed offenders included Sajjad, Rashid, Fazal Rehman, Sohail, Gul Faraz, Khan Zameer, Mansoor Khan, Kamran Ali, Wahid Rehman, Sohail Masoor, Said Ameen, Noor Zaman, Naushad Ali, Samiullah, Lais, Sabir Hussain, Baseer, Niaz Mohammad, Waqas, Naseer, Farid, Mohammad Rehman, Saifur Rehman, Aziz, Hafiz Khan, Mohammad Niaz and Asghar Hussain.
They were wanted to the police in various criminal cases.
During the operation the police also seized three Kalashnikovs, five shotguns, four rifles, 14 pistols, 17 chargers, one dagger, fireworks and 7.5kgs of hashish.
According to sources, the action was ordered by district police officer Sohaib Ashraf.
Meanwhile, unidentified terrorists attacked a school in Bahadar Kot area of Kohat with a hand grenade on Wednesday night.
Sources said that unidentified terrorists attacked a private school located in Bahadar Kot village and escaped.
No loss of life was reported in the attack.
A case has been registered in the police station CTD, Kohat region, against unknown attackers.
http://www.dawn.com/news/1244751/27-wanted-criminals-arrested-in-kohat
[h=1]Widening of Peshawar’s University Road begins
[/h] PESHAWAR: Chief Minister Pervez Khattak on Wednesday performed ground-breaking of the improvement and widening of the University Road here on Wednesday.
Provincial ministers, parliamentarians and high ranking government officers attended the ceremony on the occasion.
Speaking on the occasion, the chief minister said the university road project was initiated to make the road feasible for plying 100 modern air-conditioned buses on it. He informed that the improvement of corridor-2 from Chamkani to Hayatabad would be initiated next year with the financial assistance of Asian Development Bank.
Senior Minister for Local Government Inayatullah Khan and Peshawar Development Authority (PDA) Director General Mohammad Saleem Watto also addressed the ceremony.
Mr Khattak said the roads on banks of canals in Peshawar were constructed to solve traffic problems in the city. He said work on northern bypass road was in full swing. Similarly, he said a food street would be established at Hayatabad next month.
He said development work on Regi Model Town was in progress while sports clubs would be established in ladies club at a cost of Rs15 million.
He said beautification work on GT Road from Motorway to Bala-i-Hisar was continuing.
Mr Khattak said after establishment of WSSP, 80 per cent improvement was recorded in sanitation of the provincial capital while the same service had also been extended to districts. The CM said cleanliness was made as an essential responsibility of the district government.
The chief minister directed the district administration to remove impediments from roads. He also ordered removal of sandbags around police stations to facilitate easy movement of people.
The chief minister stressed the need of collective vision, judicious use of national resources and maintaining quality of development work to achieve the goal of national development and prosperity.
He said without checking political interference, rectification of the ills was not possible. He asked the elected representatives to refrain from interfering into the affairs of departments and uphold merit and ensure provision of justice to people. He asked the people to identify the wrongdoers.
Earlier, Local Government Minister Inayatullah Khan said a number of mega development projects would be initiated in the provincial metropolis within next few months. He said the government was striving to restore the old glory of the terrorism-hit city.
PDA Director General Mohammad Saleem said a 16km-long Jamrud road improvement project would cost Rs102 million and would be completed in five months. He said the project would be capable of catering to traffic problems for 10 years.
Published in Dawn, March 10th, 2016
http://www.dawn.com/news/1244750/widening-of-peshawars-university-road-begins
[h=1]Body formed to probe fund embezzlement
[/h] KARAK: The district administration has formed a committee to probe alleged embezzlement in the funds of conditional grant provided to the educational institutions for provision of missing facilities.
The members of the committee, Assistant Commissioner Shiraz Khan and District Monitoring Officer Khursheed Khattak, paid a visit to government high school for girls in Ahmadabad to check utilisation of the funds.
They termed the record of Rs4 million, provided to the school for provision of missing facilities, incomplete and directed the school administration to provide complete record of the funds.
SMUGGLERS HELD: Police claimed to have arrested three alleged smugglers of crude oil and seized 1,760 litters crude oil from them here on Wednesday.
A statement, issued by police, said that SHO Gurguri Shabaraz Khan intercepted a pickup truck bearing registration number B-2667 that was carrying crude oil.
Police arrested three suspects identified as Nasir Khan, Sanaullah and Faiz Mohammad, all residents of Sherpao area in Charsadda district.
Police registered FIR against the suspects and started investigations.
Published in Dawn, March 10th, 2016
http://www.dawn.com/news/1244743/body-formed-to-probe-fund-embezzlement
[h=1]Mineral protection force to be set up in KP
[/h]PESHAWAR: Provincial Minister for Mines, Mineral Development and Labour Anisa Zeb Tahirkheli has said the provincial government would set up a mineral protection force to protect mines and mineral resources from illegal excavation.
She was speaking at a consultative meeting on the proposed KP Minerals Development Regulation Act, 2016, here on Wednesday. The consultative session was organised by the mines and mineral development in collaboration with the mines owners, according to a press release.
Mines Development Department Secretary Dr Attaur Rehman, director general Fazal Wahid, Pakistan Stone Development Company chairman Agha Shahid, Frontier Mines Owners Association president Sher Bandi Marwat and others also shared their views on the occasion and gave suggestions for incorporation in the proposed law.
The minister said all the stakeholders would be taken on board before finalising the new proposed law. The proposed act would be tabled in the provincial assembly as a bill and its Urdu version would also be prepared for mines owners so that they could pinpoint loopholes and give suggestions for making it more useful, she added. She said the proposed act was aimed at protecting rights of mines owners, increasing provincial revenue and curbing illegal excavation.
Ms Tahirkheli said that all possible steps would be taken to replace the primitive techniques for excavation of mines with modern technology in order to secure the national wealth from destruction. She said that none of the successive governments had ever tried to make legislation to replace the 1923 mines law, adding under the 18th constitutional amendment provinces were authorised to make own laws for the purpose.
The new law, she said would cover all factors, including mines safety, royalty and methods for excavation.
Published in Dawn, March 10th, 20
http://www.dawn.com/news/1244748/mineral-protection-force-to-be-set-up-in-kp
[h=1]Project approved to develop park[/h]
LAKKI MARWAT: The provincial government has approved a project to develop and effectively manage Sheikh Badin national park to promote ecotourism and raise the livelihood of local communities in Lakki Marwat and DI Khan districts.
Established as a game sanctuary in 1972 by the government the mountainous range of Sheikh Badin was declared as a national park in 1993 over an area of 15,540 hectares, but so far no infrastructure was developed.
In this regard, deputy commissioner Mohammad Bakhtiar Khan presided over a meeting on Tuesday, which was also attended by Bannu district forest officer Khan Malook and DI Khan DFO Sajeel Ahmad. Mr Malook told the meeting that under the project entry gate of the park, office and residences of officials, information centre, dormitory, park complex and other facilities would be established.
He said that the park association and village conservation committees would also be set up to implement the relevant activities. He said that development of the park would help increase livelihood opportunities for the local communities.
Mr Bakhtiar said that the administration would provide assistance to the wildlife department to promote tourism and conserve wildlife in the district.
He said that the project was essential for the promotion of ecotourism in southern region of province. He said that the district administration would provide an old building located on top of Sheikh Badin Mountain for setting up the park complex.
He said that rehabilitation of the British era building and its use as park complex would save funds reserved for buying land and establishing such a complex on it.
He urged the provincial government to ensure black topping of the Sheikh Badin road and availability of water in the park.
Published in Dawn, March 9th, 2016
http://www.dawn.com/news/1244478/project-approved-to-develop-park
[h=1]Policemen on contract not paid salary since January
[/h]TIMERGARA: The contractual special police officials working in Lower Dir on Tuesday complained they had not been paid salary for the last three months.
They said the issue had distressed them and family members.
“I didn’t pay my children’s school fees during the last three months,” a special police official told reporters here requesting anonymity.
He demanded regularisation of his and colleagues’ services.
Another such official said the police inducted thousands of people, mostly retired army personnel, in 2009 on contractual basis for two years when the officials of the regular police force were quitting job due to the growing militancy in Swat, Dir, Buner, Malakand and Bajaur.
[h=4]DPO says money okayed, matter will be resolved in a week[/h]
He said the contracts of SPOs were later extended. According to him, these officials initially got Rs10,000 monthly salary, which was later increased by the present government to Rs15,000.
The official said SPOs had been diligently doing duty at checkpoints and police stations and during anti-polio campaigns but they had not been paid salary since January this year.
He said SPOs were upset at lack of money and that they might quit job if non-payment of salary continued.
When contacted, Lower Dir district police officer Qasim Ali Khan confirmed the non-payment of salary to the SPOs and blamed it on the unavailability of funds.
He however said the finance department had approved money for purpose and that hopefully, the issue would be resolved within a week.
http://www.dawn.com/news/1244505/policemen-on-contract-not-paid-salary-since-january
Syed Haider Imam
Chief Minister (5k+ posts)
Re: PTI's KPK Government Achievements
Ruckus mars LG convention in Peshawar
PESHAWAR: A major ruckus marred the convention of local body members here on Monday in the presence of PTI and Jamaat-i-Islami central leadership as participants constantly demanded honoraria and empowerment.
Hundreds of the district, tehsil/town and village and neighbourhood council members, including nazims and naib nazims, gathered at the Qayyum Stadium Peshawar for the event, where PTI chief Imran Khan, JI chief Sirajul Haq, Chief Minister Pervez Khattak and local government minister Inayatullah Khan were the key speakers.
The participants had come from across the province hoping they’ll hear good news from the chief minister about honoraria and more powers.
Disappointed, they began shouting against the CM when he announced Rs40,000 monthly salary for district nazim and Rs30,000 for naib nazim, Rs30,000 for town/tehsil nazim and Rs20,000 for naib nazim, and Rs10,000 for village and neighbourhood council nazim and Rs7000 for naib nazim along with perks and privileges.
Protesting nazims, councillors demand honoraria, empowerment
The nazims rejected the salary package as peanuts, whereas the councillors protested non-provision of honorarium.
Women councillors made loud shouts while standing by the podium, while their male colleagues demonstrated all over the ground. Youth councillors protested outside the stadium.
Imran Khan and Pervez Khattak tried to calm protesters, but to no avail as the disturbance continued until the event ended.
The CM told the protesting nazims that they were ridiculing the people’s mandate by demanding perks and privileges equal to those of BPS-16 government officials.
Imran Khan said, “Don’t prefer your own interest to that of the people! Are you elected to serve yourselves or the people? Did you contest elections for salaries?”
The protesters responded loudly asking if the CM was not taking salary and perks and privileges.
In his speech, Imran Khan said billions of funds had been allocated for local bodies without discrimination.
He said for the first time in the country’s history, 30 percent development funds would be utilised by a government through local bodies.
The PTI chief told nazims and councillors to be thankful to the CM for introducing a very effective local government system instead of criticising him.
He urged the local body representatives to implement the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Local Government Act, 2013, in letter and spirit to set an example for others provinces to follow.
Imran Khan said several developed countries had appreciated the local body system introduced by the PTI in the province.
Visibly enraged Pervez Khattak asked the protesters to read and understand the law, which he said had given them lots of power.
Regarding the nazims’ call for powers to transfer officials of the devolved departments particularly health and education, the chief minister said he himself had no such powers and instead, postings and transfers were done by the relevant officials under a mechanism.
“The existing local body system is not for thieves as it used to be in the past,” he said.
The CM said the devolution didn’t mean to loot the people’s money and go scot-free.
Earlier, Shangla district nazim Niaz Ahmad said the rules of business for local bodies were framed by bureaucrats in violation of the relevant law.
He said under the previous local government system, deputy commissioners, district police officers and heads of the other devolved departments were answerable to district nazims but the current provincial government had clipped the nazims’ powers through rules of business.
“If we have no power, how we will ensure good governance in educational institutions and hospitals,” he said.
Published in Dawn, March 8th, 2016
http://www.dawn.com/news/1244324/ruckus-mars-lg-convention-in-peshawar
Hike in allowance to improve doctors’ attendance at hospitals
PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government has announced unprecedented increase in the health professional allowance (HPA) to ensure presence of doctors at the hospitals and improve patients’ care, according to officials.
The doctors would now get the enhanced HPA ranging from Rs60,000 to Rs140,000 a month, highest ever in the country. “The new policy also encourages doctors to get posted in their home districts,” said the officials.
The doctors, who presently get Rs10, 000 to Rs15000 HPA, will be entitled to enhanced allowance in the backward areas where they were previously reluctant to be posted.
Officials said that a notification issued in January on the basis of backwardness of district also carried benefits for unattractive specialties in anesthesia, radiology and pathology.
The government will give Rs140,000 HPA to specialists in Buner, Battagram, Chitral, Hangu, Karak, Kohistan, Shangla, Tank and Torghar, marked as category C. In B category, doctors will get Rs100, 000 HPA in Nowshera, Swat, Kohat, Mardan, Bannu, Charsadda, Dera Ismail Khan, Dir Lower, Haripur, Mansehra, Malakand and Swabi.
The doctors at government hospitals in Peshawar and Abbottabad, falling in A category districts, will draw Rs80, 000 HPA under the initiative. For attractive specialties like medical, children and surgery etc, the doctors will receive Rs60,000 in category A districts, Rs80,000 in B and Rs100, 000 in category C districts.
The health manager including district health officers and their assistants and medical superintends of the district headquarters hospitals in BPS-17 and above will receive Rs56,000, Rs76,000 and 96,000 in lieu of HPA in the districts falling in A, B and C categories, respectively.
The medical officers and dental surgeons will stand entitled to Rs42,000 in urban and Rs52000 in rural area of category A districts, Rs62,000 and Rs72,000 in B and Rs82,000 and Rs92,000 in C category districts.
Many doctors have opted to avail the incentives and get their salaries doubled. The package would benefit about 5,000 medical officers in the province. Several doctors are weighing options to get posted at their home districts to benefit from the package.
“It means that doctors in BPS-18 will get Rs100, 000 more for working in category C districts. It is highly attractive as opposed to the previous HPA,” said a doctor.
The categorisation of districts on the basis of hard to reach areas, geographical terrain, security situation and lack of development and infrastructure is aimed at ensuring presence of doctors to improve patients’ acre at basic health units and rural health centres and district specialists, he said.
Health Secretary Jamal Yousaf told this scribe that the package didn’t include the hospitals covered by the Medical Teaching Reforms Institution Act, 2015. It will cost Rs1billion to the government. “However, following the increase, the government has put in place monitoring system to check presence of doctors,” he added.
Mr Yousaf said that they had also adopted a policy to appoint doctors in their home districts as part of their strategy to motivate people. He said that doctors had yet to get the increased salaries due to some technical problems with accounts.
The problem was resolved and they would soon be giving additional HPA after which they would be expected to know the quantum of the increase they were going to get if they wanted to serve people in backward areas, said the official.
Published in Dawn, March 7th, 2016
http://www.dawn.com/news/1244077/hike-in-allowance-to-improve-doctors-attendance-at-hospitals
New health law unlikely to bring change in Abbottabad hospital
ABBOTTABAD: The health reforms law, introduced by the PTI-led provincial government recently, is unlikely to bring a positive change in Abbottabad as two members of the Board of Governors of Ayub Teaching Hospital (ATH) have resigned from their job, according to sources.
The chairman of BoG of the teaching hospital had already tendered resignation three months ago.
Sources said that one of the members of BoG was not attending the meetings of the board from day one. It reduced the strength of BoG to only three from seven, they said, adding it made implementation of the law difficult.
Three members of Ayub Teaching Hospital BoG resign within few months
The provincial government had introduced Medical Teaching Institutes Reforms Law to improve patients’ care at government hospitals. However, the government failed to implement the law in ATH during the past one year as three members of BoG including its chairman had tendered resignation.
The ATH BoG chairman, Abdul Rashid, a former secretary establishment, resigned from the board over alleged interference by the health minister in the hospital affairs. After his resignation, another member Javed Panni was nominated chairman of BoG.
However, within a span of two months, two other members of BoG, Imtiaz Malang and Shaukat Orakzai, tendered their resignation. They didn’t attend the BoG meeting, held on Saturday.
Most of the senior doctors and health managers were of the view that majority of the BoG members were appointed in a hurry without seeing their background and professional capabilities.
Sources said that PTI local leadership nominated three new members to fill the gap but the new nominations might also not able to make any difference owing to lack of experience in tertiary care hospital. Interestingly, none of the BoG members had any experience in public sector tertiary care hospital.
Contrary to the PTI claims, patients’ care was badly affected during the last one year as confusion and uncertainty prevailed among ATH employees including doctors. During the past eight months, the hospital staff had gone on strike six times and the health facility remained closed for 30 days.
Sources said that health reforms law was violated in more than 70 cases of selection and promotion while the BoG failed to select medical director, hospital director, dean, finance director, nursing director and secretary BoG.
The incumbent director of the hospital, Dr Siddiqur Rehman, would retire after attaining superannuation on March 31, 2016. However, the health department has failed to make arrangement for his replacement.
The salary of hospital director was stopped for four months that was released after the intervention of the hospital’s BoG.
Dr Siddiqur Rehman, who was medical superintendent of Saidu Group of Teaching Hospitals Swat, was notified as ATH director on March 25, 2015. It was considered one of the major hurdles in the implementation of the health reforms law, sources said.
The hospital was being run on ad hoc basis without regular appointments of dean, medical director, hospital director, finance director and nursing director as required under the health reforms law, they said.
Published in Dawn, March 7th, 2016
http://www.dawn.com/news/1244075/new-health-law-unlikely-to-bring-change-in-abbottabad-hospital
VIEW FROM THE COUTROOM: The new Ehtesab law should be a balanced one
Following passage of over two years since Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Ehtesab Commission Act (KPECA), 2014, was enacted the provincial government is still unsure what type of accountability mechanism should be in place in the province. The KPECA, passed by the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly on Jan 7, 2014, is once again under scrutiny and a committee of legal experts headed by senior advocate and leader of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), Hamid Khan, has been assigned task to prepare draft of a bill in this regard.
PTI chairperson Imran Khan has made it public that a new bill was being drafted and the same would be placed before the provincial cabinet in the near future before being tabled in the assembly.
Looking at the developments taking place after the enactment of KPECA one thing is clear that this law was made in haste due to which it suffered from several lacunas and amendments had to be introduced in it from time to time. The tinkering with this law did not bear fruit and had ultimately resulted in the resignation of the first director general of the Ehtesab Commission Lt-Gen (retd) Hamid Khan.
As the subject of accountability was dearer to PTI and was also part of its election manifesto, therefore, the provincial government had introduced a faulty law in a haste.
Prior to the establishment of the Ehtesab Commission, the anti-corruption establishment was a provincial institution dealing with cases of corruption apart from National Accountability Bureau (NAB) and Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), both of which are federal agencies. When the KPECA was enacted it provided for repealing of the West Pakistan Anti-Corruption Establishment Ordinance, 1961, thus making it clear that after the establishment of Ehtesab Commission the ACE would cease to function in the province.
The first amendment in the law was made through the KPEC (Amendment) Act, 2014, which was passed by the assembly on Jun 24, 2014.
Through that amendment the provincial government reversed its earlier decision of abolishing the ACE in the province and instead decided that both the Ehtesab Commission and ACE would be functioning side-by-side. It was provided that the ACE would have no jurisdiction in matters where the commission assumed jurisdiction.
In early 2015, the provincial government realised that a major loophole in the law was that retrospective effect was not given to it due to which applying it to offences committed before its enactment became questionable. To remove that flaw the KPEC (Amendment) Act, 2015, was passed by the provincial assembly on April 10, 2015.
Initially, the law stated that it shall come into force at once, which meant that the commission could only deal with cases occurring after it came into existence and not earlier. Through the said amendment the commission was empowered to deal with corruption cases from Jan 1, 2004 onwards.
In April 2015, the Ehtesab commission started arresting suspects involved in corruption, corrupt practices and misuse of office. Soon it surfaced that a major flaw in the KPECA was that nowhere in the law it was mentioned that the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) would be applicable to cases under it. Because of that flaw several of the arrested suspects were granted bail by the Peshawar High Court.
In the law no provision was provided regarding judicial remand of a suspect. Several of the suspects pleaded that they were in illegal detention after completion of their physical remand with the commission as the provision of judicial custody was not there.
The provincial assembly passed the KPEC (2nd Amendment) Act on Aug 20, 2015, and introduced several changes in the law. Through that amendment certain provisions of the CrPC were applied to trials under the Act. The government also inserted a sub-section in the law which provided that no court should have jurisdiction to grant bail to any person accused of an offence under this Act.
Ever since this Act was introduced it has been drawing criticism on different grounds. The critics of the law believed that very nominal role was assigned to the five-member Ehtesab Commission comprising the chief Ehtesab commissioner and four Ehtesab commissioners, whereas the main powers had been assigned to the office of the director general.
Furthermore, questions were also raised about the appointments made in the commission especially that of the investigators and it was alleged that those appointments lacked transparency.
Few months ago the provincial government constituted a cabinet committee headed by senior minister Enayatullah Khan for recommending changes in the law. The recommendations put forward by the said committee had generated a controversy, which has yet to settle. The then DG, Lt-Gen (retd) Hamid Khan, had opposed it and when a controversial ordinance, KPEC (Amendment) Ordinance, 2016, was promulgated by the government he resigned on Feb 10.
Through the said ordinance drastic changes were made in the Act. An important amendment is that all persons appointed in the directorate general before the commencement of this ordinance shall be examined by a scrutiny committee to be constituted in the prescribed manner by the government.
Through these amendments the government has made the approval of Ehtesab Commission mandatory for arrest of a suspect and has reduced maximum physical custody period of a suspect to 15 days from the previous 45 days.
It provides that no senator, MNA or MPA shall be arrested by the commission without prior intimation to the Senate chairman or speaker of National Assembly or provincial assembly, as the case may be. Similarly, in case of a civil servant intimation shall be given to the chief secretary.
Following the promulgation of the ordinance the commission is now bound to complete an inquiry in 90 days followed by investigation which shall be completed in 30 days.
Inquiry shall be converted into investigation with the approval of the commission and an accused shall only be arrested during investigation stage and not inquiry.
It further provides that no inquiry shall be started on anonymous complaint and the fine imposed on a complainant on frivolous complaint shall not be less than Rs500,000 and not more than Rs2 million.
Legal experts dealing with accountability cases believe that this time the government should not introduce any law in haste and instead it should be put to public debate before introduction.
They believe that any future law should be a balanced one and positive things available in others laws should be included in it, especially that of the National Accountability Ordinance, 1999.
Published in Dawn, March 7th, 2016
http://www.dawn.com/news/1244064/view-from-the-coutroom-the-new-ehtesab-law-should-be-a-balanced-one
Ruckus mars LG convention in Peshawar
PESHAWAR: A major ruckus marred the convention of local body members here on Monday in the presence of PTI and Jamaat-i-Islami central leadership as participants constantly demanded honoraria and empowerment.
Hundreds of the district, tehsil/town and village and neighbourhood council members, including nazims and naib nazims, gathered at the Qayyum Stadium Peshawar for the event, where PTI chief Imran Khan, JI chief Sirajul Haq, Chief Minister Pervez Khattak and local government minister Inayatullah Khan were the key speakers.
The participants had come from across the province hoping they’ll hear good news from the chief minister about honoraria and more powers.
Disappointed, they began shouting against the CM when he announced Rs40,000 monthly salary for district nazim and Rs30,000 for naib nazim, Rs30,000 for town/tehsil nazim and Rs20,000 for naib nazim, and Rs10,000 for village and neighbourhood council nazim and Rs7000 for naib nazim along with perks and privileges.
Protesting nazims, councillors demand honoraria, empowerment
The nazims rejected the salary package as peanuts, whereas the councillors protested non-provision of honorarium.
Women councillors made loud shouts while standing by the podium, while their male colleagues demonstrated all over the ground. Youth councillors protested outside the stadium.
Imran Khan and Pervez Khattak tried to calm protesters, but to no avail as the disturbance continued until the event ended.
The CM told the protesting nazims that they were ridiculing the people’s mandate by demanding perks and privileges equal to those of BPS-16 government officials.
Imran Khan said, “Don’t prefer your own interest to that of the people! Are you elected to serve yourselves or the people? Did you contest elections for salaries?”
The protesters responded loudly asking if the CM was not taking salary and perks and privileges.
In his speech, Imran Khan said billions of funds had been allocated for local bodies without discrimination.
He said for the first time in the country’s history, 30 percent development funds would be utilised by a government through local bodies.
The PTI chief told nazims and councillors to be thankful to the CM for introducing a very effective local government system instead of criticising him.
He urged the local body representatives to implement the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Local Government Act, 2013, in letter and spirit to set an example for others provinces to follow.
Imran Khan said several developed countries had appreciated the local body system introduced by the PTI in the province.
Visibly enraged Pervez Khattak asked the protesters to read and understand the law, which he said had given them lots of power.
Regarding the nazims’ call for powers to transfer officials of the devolved departments particularly health and education, the chief minister said he himself had no such powers and instead, postings and transfers were done by the relevant officials under a mechanism.
“The existing local body system is not for thieves as it used to be in the past,” he said.
The CM said the devolution didn’t mean to loot the people’s money and go scot-free.
Earlier, Shangla district nazim Niaz Ahmad said the rules of business for local bodies were framed by bureaucrats in violation of the relevant law.
He said under the previous local government system, deputy commissioners, district police officers and heads of the other devolved departments were answerable to district nazims but the current provincial government had clipped the nazims’ powers through rules of business.
“If we have no power, how we will ensure good governance in educational institutions and hospitals,” he said.
Published in Dawn, March 8th, 2016
http://www.dawn.com/news/1244324/ruckus-mars-lg-convention-in-peshawar
Hike in allowance to improve doctors’ attendance at hospitals
PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government has announced unprecedented increase in the health professional allowance (HPA) to ensure presence of doctors at the hospitals and improve patients’ care, according to officials.
The doctors would now get the enhanced HPA ranging from Rs60,000 to Rs140,000 a month, highest ever in the country. “The new policy also encourages doctors to get posted in their home districts,” said the officials.
The doctors, who presently get Rs10, 000 to Rs15000 HPA, will be entitled to enhanced allowance in the backward areas where they were previously reluctant to be posted.
Officials said that a notification issued in January on the basis of backwardness of district also carried benefits for unattractive specialties in anesthesia, radiology and pathology.
The government will give Rs140,000 HPA to specialists in Buner, Battagram, Chitral, Hangu, Karak, Kohistan, Shangla, Tank and Torghar, marked as category C. In B category, doctors will get Rs100, 000 HPA in Nowshera, Swat, Kohat, Mardan, Bannu, Charsadda, Dera Ismail Khan, Dir Lower, Haripur, Mansehra, Malakand and Swabi.
The doctors at government hospitals in Peshawar and Abbottabad, falling in A category districts, will draw Rs80, 000 HPA under the initiative. For attractive specialties like medical, children and surgery etc, the doctors will receive Rs60,000 in category A districts, Rs80,000 in B and Rs100, 000 in category C districts.
The health manager including district health officers and their assistants and medical superintends of the district headquarters hospitals in BPS-17 and above will receive Rs56,000, Rs76,000 and 96,000 in lieu of HPA in the districts falling in A, B and C categories, respectively.
The medical officers and dental surgeons will stand entitled to Rs42,000 in urban and Rs52000 in rural area of category A districts, Rs62,000 and Rs72,000 in B and Rs82,000 and Rs92,000 in C category districts.
Many doctors have opted to avail the incentives and get their salaries doubled. The package would benefit about 5,000 medical officers in the province. Several doctors are weighing options to get posted at their home districts to benefit from the package.
“It means that doctors in BPS-18 will get Rs100, 000 more for working in category C districts. It is highly attractive as opposed to the previous HPA,” said a doctor.
The categorisation of districts on the basis of hard to reach areas, geographical terrain, security situation and lack of development and infrastructure is aimed at ensuring presence of doctors to improve patients’ acre at basic health units and rural health centres and district specialists, he said.
Health Secretary Jamal Yousaf told this scribe that the package didn’t include the hospitals covered by the Medical Teaching Reforms Institution Act, 2015. It will cost Rs1billion to the government. “However, following the increase, the government has put in place monitoring system to check presence of doctors,” he added.
Mr Yousaf said that they had also adopted a policy to appoint doctors in their home districts as part of their strategy to motivate people. He said that doctors had yet to get the increased salaries due to some technical problems with accounts.
The problem was resolved and they would soon be giving additional HPA after which they would be expected to know the quantum of the increase they were going to get if they wanted to serve people in backward areas, said the official.
Published in Dawn, March 7th, 2016
http://www.dawn.com/news/1244077/hike-in-allowance-to-improve-doctors-attendance-at-hospitals
New health law unlikely to bring change in Abbottabad hospital
ABBOTTABAD: The health reforms law, introduced by the PTI-led provincial government recently, is unlikely to bring a positive change in Abbottabad as two members of the Board of Governors of Ayub Teaching Hospital (ATH) have resigned from their job, according to sources.
The chairman of BoG of the teaching hospital had already tendered resignation three months ago.
Sources said that one of the members of BoG was not attending the meetings of the board from day one. It reduced the strength of BoG to only three from seven, they said, adding it made implementation of the law difficult.
Three members of Ayub Teaching Hospital BoG resign within few months
The provincial government had introduced Medical Teaching Institutes Reforms Law to improve patients’ care at government hospitals. However, the government failed to implement the law in ATH during the past one year as three members of BoG including its chairman had tendered resignation.
The ATH BoG chairman, Abdul Rashid, a former secretary establishment, resigned from the board over alleged interference by the health minister in the hospital affairs. After his resignation, another member Javed Panni was nominated chairman of BoG.
However, within a span of two months, two other members of BoG, Imtiaz Malang and Shaukat Orakzai, tendered their resignation. They didn’t attend the BoG meeting, held on Saturday.
Most of the senior doctors and health managers were of the view that majority of the BoG members were appointed in a hurry without seeing their background and professional capabilities.
Sources said that PTI local leadership nominated three new members to fill the gap but the new nominations might also not able to make any difference owing to lack of experience in tertiary care hospital. Interestingly, none of the BoG members had any experience in public sector tertiary care hospital.
Contrary to the PTI claims, patients’ care was badly affected during the last one year as confusion and uncertainty prevailed among ATH employees including doctors. During the past eight months, the hospital staff had gone on strike six times and the health facility remained closed for 30 days.
Sources said that health reforms law was violated in more than 70 cases of selection and promotion while the BoG failed to select medical director, hospital director, dean, finance director, nursing director and secretary BoG.
The incumbent director of the hospital, Dr Siddiqur Rehman, would retire after attaining superannuation on March 31, 2016. However, the health department has failed to make arrangement for his replacement.
The salary of hospital director was stopped for four months that was released after the intervention of the hospital’s BoG.
Dr Siddiqur Rehman, who was medical superintendent of Saidu Group of Teaching Hospitals Swat, was notified as ATH director on March 25, 2015. It was considered one of the major hurdles in the implementation of the health reforms law, sources said.
The hospital was being run on ad hoc basis without regular appointments of dean, medical director, hospital director, finance director and nursing director as required under the health reforms law, they said.
Published in Dawn, March 7th, 2016
http://www.dawn.com/news/1244075/new-health-law-unlikely-to-bring-change-in-abbottabad-hospital
VIEW FROM THE COUTROOM: The new Ehtesab law should be a balanced one
Following passage of over two years since Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Ehtesab Commission Act (KPECA), 2014, was enacted the provincial government is still unsure what type of accountability mechanism should be in place in the province. The KPECA, passed by the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly on Jan 7, 2014, is once again under scrutiny and a committee of legal experts headed by senior advocate and leader of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), Hamid Khan, has been assigned task to prepare draft of a bill in this regard.
PTI chairperson Imran Khan has made it public that a new bill was being drafted and the same would be placed before the provincial cabinet in the near future before being tabled in the assembly.
Looking at the developments taking place after the enactment of KPECA one thing is clear that this law was made in haste due to which it suffered from several lacunas and amendments had to be introduced in it from time to time. The tinkering with this law did not bear fruit and had ultimately resulted in the resignation of the first director general of the Ehtesab Commission Lt-Gen (retd) Hamid Khan.
As the subject of accountability was dearer to PTI and was also part of its election manifesto, therefore, the provincial government had introduced a faulty law in a haste.
Prior to the establishment of the Ehtesab Commission, the anti-corruption establishment was a provincial institution dealing with cases of corruption apart from National Accountability Bureau (NAB) and Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), both of which are federal agencies. When the KPECA was enacted it provided for repealing of the West Pakistan Anti-Corruption Establishment Ordinance, 1961, thus making it clear that after the establishment of Ehtesab Commission the ACE would cease to function in the province.
The first amendment in the law was made through the KPEC (Amendment) Act, 2014, which was passed by the assembly on Jun 24, 2014.
Through that amendment the provincial government reversed its earlier decision of abolishing the ACE in the province and instead decided that both the Ehtesab Commission and ACE would be functioning side-by-side. It was provided that the ACE would have no jurisdiction in matters where the commission assumed jurisdiction.
In early 2015, the provincial government realised that a major loophole in the law was that retrospective effect was not given to it due to which applying it to offences committed before its enactment became questionable. To remove that flaw the KPEC (Amendment) Act, 2015, was passed by the provincial assembly on April 10, 2015.
Initially, the law stated that it shall come into force at once, which meant that the commission could only deal with cases occurring after it came into existence and not earlier. Through the said amendment the commission was empowered to deal with corruption cases from Jan 1, 2004 onwards.
In April 2015, the Ehtesab commission started arresting suspects involved in corruption, corrupt practices and misuse of office. Soon it surfaced that a major flaw in the KPECA was that nowhere in the law it was mentioned that the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) would be applicable to cases under it. Because of that flaw several of the arrested suspects were granted bail by the Peshawar High Court.
In the law no provision was provided regarding judicial remand of a suspect. Several of the suspects pleaded that they were in illegal detention after completion of their physical remand with the commission as the provision of judicial custody was not there.
The provincial assembly passed the KPEC (2nd Amendment) Act on Aug 20, 2015, and introduced several changes in the law. Through that amendment certain provisions of the CrPC were applied to trials under the Act. The government also inserted a sub-section in the law which provided that no court should have jurisdiction to grant bail to any person accused of an offence under this Act.
Ever since this Act was introduced it has been drawing criticism on different grounds. The critics of the law believed that very nominal role was assigned to the five-member Ehtesab Commission comprising the chief Ehtesab commissioner and four Ehtesab commissioners, whereas the main powers had been assigned to the office of the director general.
Furthermore, questions were also raised about the appointments made in the commission especially that of the investigators and it was alleged that those appointments lacked transparency.
Few months ago the provincial government constituted a cabinet committee headed by senior minister Enayatullah Khan for recommending changes in the law. The recommendations put forward by the said committee had generated a controversy, which has yet to settle. The then DG, Lt-Gen (retd) Hamid Khan, had opposed it and when a controversial ordinance, KPEC (Amendment) Ordinance, 2016, was promulgated by the government he resigned on Feb 10.
Through the said ordinance drastic changes were made in the Act. An important amendment is that all persons appointed in the directorate general before the commencement of this ordinance shall be examined by a scrutiny committee to be constituted in the prescribed manner by the government.
Through these amendments the government has made the approval of Ehtesab Commission mandatory for arrest of a suspect and has reduced maximum physical custody period of a suspect to 15 days from the previous 45 days.
It provides that no senator, MNA or MPA shall be arrested by the commission without prior intimation to the Senate chairman or speaker of National Assembly or provincial assembly, as the case may be. Similarly, in case of a civil servant intimation shall be given to the chief secretary.
Following the promulgation of the ordinance the commission is now bound to complete an inquiry in 90 days followed by investigation which shall be completed in 30 days.
Inquiry shall be converted into investigation with the approval of the commission and an accused shall only be arrested during investigation stage and not inquiry.
It further provides that no inquiry shall be started on anonymous complaint and the fine imposed on a complainant on frivolous complaint shall not be less than Rs500,000 and not more than Rs2 million.
Legal experts dealing with accountability cases believe that this time the government should not introduce any law in haste and instead it should be put to public debate before introduction.
They believe that any future law should be a balanced one and positive things available in others laws should be included in it, especially that of the National Accountability Ordinance, 1999.
Published in Dawn, March 7th, 2016
http://www.dawn.com/news/1244064/view-from-the-coutroom-the-new-ehtesab-law-should-be-a-balanced-one
samekhanok
New Member
The Solar In Pakistan power plant operations director Mohamed Hassan Ascari (Muhammad Hassan Askari) said Kelisitan desert (Cholistan) is perfect for the development of sun oriented force plants. Here not just has 13 hours of daylight a day, and substantial ranges of level, open desert, to a great degree suitable for the development of such vast scale business projects.Ascari brought up, warm or hydroelectric tasks contrasted with the considerable focal points of sun oriented force plant is finished quick, does not require a ton of maintenance.Pakistan has an extensive number of Photovoltaic Solar Panel Systems and warm power era, which ingest the abundance limit of Chinese PV alluring.
Oil and gas are two of Pakistan's vitality blend key, both of 2012, 65 for each penny of Pakistan's aggregate vitality market (where 15% oil, half regular gas). Pakistan yearly imports about $ 14.5 billion of oil, 33% of vitality needs through imports still fulfilled. Carring substantial vitality import bills, in addition to the powerless economy, so that the advancement of Pakistan into an endless loop.
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Oil and gas are two of Pakistan's vitality blend key, both of 2012, 65 for each penny of Pakistan's aggregate vitality market (where 15% oil, half regular gas). Pakistan yearly imports about $ 14.5 billion of oil, 33% of vitality needs through imports still fulfilled. Carring substantial vitality import bills, in addition to the powerless economy, so that the advancement of Pakistan into an endless loop.
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Syed Haider Imam
Chief Minister (5k+ posts)
MARCH 14 , 2016
