K-P cabinet endorses move to raise retirement age

Provincial govt makes it easier for private companies to own land in the province

PESHAWAR: The provincial cabinet on Friday endorsed a move to enhance the retirement age of provincial bureaucrats from 60 to 63 years. The cabinet also endorsed a plan to compensate owners of shops in the main bazaar of Mir Ali in North Waziristan.

These decisions were taken during a meeting of the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) cabinet which met in the provincial capital on Friday.

Addressing the post-cabinet briefing, K-P Information Minister Shaukat Ali Yousafzai stated that government will now amend the Government Services Act 1973 to raise the retirement age.

He explained that in 1950, the retirement age was 50 years. This was raised to 60 years in the 1973 constitution. Yousafzai added that their decision to increase the retirement age in the province has been taken in light of international retirement age limits.

The information minister further explained that this will help the provincial government save some Rs24 billion in pensions every year.

Yousafzai added that the provincial cabinet has also decided to bring changes in the land acquisition act whereby private companies will now have to take permission from the district commissioner for acquiring land rather than requesting the provincial government.

Moreover, the Project Policy for granting leaves to contract employees will also see changes whereby project employees will be entitled to avail 15 days of casual leaves in a year. Empowered officials can grant five casual leaves at a time. Moreover, maternity leaves and other long leaves will be limited to 45 days.

Yousafzai added that the high court presented the necessary amendments in the Deconstruction of Record Act 1917, on which the cabinet gave approval.

The information minister said that the K-P Chief Minister Mahmood Khan had expressed his displeasure over the slow pace of curtailing plastic bags in the province. He said that Mahmood had called a meeting of all commissioners and deputy commissioners of the province to review the actions taken against plastic bags, adding that the CM had set a deadline of 15 days to curb the use of the bags.

Yousafzai said that CM Mahmood had warned of taking strict action against all those officers who had failed to seal manufacturers of plastic bags within their respective jurisdiction.

In line with proposals of the court, the provincial cabinet also decided to amend the Deconstruction of Record Act 1917, to terminate the documented form of the court records, while the soft files could be replaced with legal records within the court.

The provincial government decided to introduce two resolutions in the K-P assembly. The first one would look into the Christian Marriage (Amendment) Bill 2018 and the Divorce Amendment Bill 2018.

The provincial cabinet also approved a proposal for creating a Provincial Ulema and Mashaek Council under which Ulemas and Mashaekh Councils will be set up at district level. This proposal will now be presented before the provincial assembly.

The K-P Journalist Welfare Endowment Fund (Amendment) Bill 2019 also won the approval of the provincial cabinet which would provide journalists associated with the electronic media with unemployment stipend for two months along with sustainable education and shelter.

Under K-P Special Initia­tives, the provincial cabinet transferred unused funds worth Rs2 billion to the tourism ministry.

The provincial cabinet also approved the appointment of Hasan Daud in the K-P Board of Investment for a period of three years. The cabinet also dissolved all District Zakat Committees of the province.

A Memorandum of Under­standing (MoU) between the Peshawar Museum and the Museum of Oriental Arts in Moscow was approved to allow both museums to work together to preserve cultural heritage.

The cabinet has also approved the Razmak Cadet College Employment Services Rules 2019.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 15^th, 2019.