PESHAWER:

The Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) government has sanctioned Rs1.247 billion in relief for families displaced by flooding in Bajaur, as part of a broader set of measures aimed at enhancing governance, public services, and infrastructure across the province.

The move comes as part of a broader package of development and welfare decisions taken at the province’s 38th cabinet meeting, presided over by Chief Minister Ali Amin Khan Gandapur.

In the session, the cabinet approved a new communications strategy for the government, and sanctioned reconstruction of Pak Sadd Shaheed Police Lines, as well new police stations and posts in Peshawar. Land for a police station in Akbarpura, Nowshera, was also greenlit.

The cabinet upgraded Swabi’s sub-jail to a district jail and approved staff and prisoner transfers. Oghi Hospital in Mansehra received approval to be upgraded to Category‑D, while cultural grants were allocated for festivals of the Kalash and Bahá’í communities.

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Further decisions included the acquisition of 50 additional buses for the BRT fleet and establishing the country’s largest safari park in Nowshera. The Forest Department was granted 14,718 acres in Tank’s Banda Piru for reforestation. Historic Chashma Rest House in Dera Ismail Khan will now fall under the Archaeology Department’s charge, and a K-P Arts and Crafts display centre will open in Islamabad.

Financial reforms included increasing net hydropower revenue shares for dam-affected districts from 10% to 15%, amendments to healthcare and women’s commission rules, and revisions to the Stamp Act of 1899.

The cabinet increased the province’s minimum monthly wage from Rs36,000 to Rs40,000. Funding was also sanctioned for the construction of a NADRA office in Dera Ismail Khan, a Rs6 million grant for a kidney transplant, and K-P’s participation in the Islamabad National Youth Games 2025.

Additionally, Rs100 million worth of rations were allocated for earthquake victims in Afghanistan.

A briefing on wheat and grain supplies painted a reassuring outlook, though officials committed to ongoing procurement if needed. The meeting concluded with prayers for the deceased from floods and the Afghan quake, and for the swift recovery of the injured.