K-P to set up seven child protection courts

Additional district and sessions judges will be appointed to expedite hearing of crimes against children

PESHAWAR: To tackle rising incidents of sexual assault against minors, the provincial government on Tuesday approved the establishment of special child protection courts in the province.

The decision was taken during a meeting of the provincial cabinet at the CM Secretariat on Tuesday.

Chaired by Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) Chief Minister (CM) Mahmood Khan, the cabinet decided to set up seven courts across the province. Operating at the divisional level, these courts aim to expedite hearing of crimes related to children.

Addressing the media after the cabinet meeting, K-P Information Minister Shaukat Yousafzai said that an additional district and sessions judges will be appointed to each of these seven courts and will cost an estimated Rs50 million annually to operate.

Regarding the recent security operation in Regi area of Peshawar by the Counter-Terrorism Department, where five suspected terrorists were allegedly gunned down, Yousafzai said that it was being investigated on the directives of the chief minister.

The information minister said the cabinet was informed that there was no danger from the novel coronavirus (Covid-19) cases in the province, adding that measures have been taken to control it.

However, Yousafzai said that a special meeting of the cabinet is expected to be summoned soon where experts on the subject will brief the provincial government.

The information minister added that the cabinet has decided to regularise the service of special police forces.

Under the K-P Special Police Officers (Regularisation of Services) Act 2019, the officers of the special police force recruited on a contract or fixed pay on August 1, 2019, will immediately become permanent.

The contract of these special police officers had already been extended from January 1 to June 30 this year and when this contract expires, as many as 9,618 special police officers will be made permanent. This will cost Rs2.72 billion annually.

Similarly, the provincial cabinet approved the Integrated Water Resource Management Strategy. The strategy has been finalised after consultation with approximately 200 international, national and provincial agencies and experts.

The cabinet was told that after the integration of the tribal districts into the province, the number of people living in the rural areas of the province has increased significantly. The provincial government needs investment from various development partners to alleviate poverty and to improve the quality of life of people in these rural areas.

The cabinet also approved the K-P Rural Economic Transformation Project (RETP) project with a cost of $100 million. Of this, the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) will provide $50 million for creating employment opportunities in the province.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 26^th, 2020.