K-P okays new rules for power crushers

Provincial cabinet restricts installation of plants near residences

PESHAWAR:

In line with court directions, health and environmental considerations, the provincial government on Tuesday approved rules for power crushing machines apart from finalising a policy for employing children of martyred policemen.

This was decided during a meeting of the provincial cabinet at the Civil Secretariat in Peshawar on Tuesday with Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) Chief Minister Mahmood Khan in the chair.

The provincial cabinet approved the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Power Crushers Rules 2020, which had been formulated by a committee of provincial secretaries. The new rules cover the renewal of licenses and working out modern processing mechanisms.

Similarly, the cabinet determined that under the new rules, power crushing machines will not be allowed to set up their plants in the urban areas up to 500 metres while in rural areas, it will be restricted up to 300 metres.

The K-P Police Amendment Bill 2020, was also approved for tabling it before the provincial assembly. Under the bill, a quota of 5% has been fixed for recruiting children of police martyrs.

The seniority of all such recruits will be determined by the date of the martyrdom of their parents.

Moreover, a 20% quota will go to the graduate constables and head constables who had passed their Police Service Commission exams. A further 50% quota of head constables will be through the DPC and the remaining 25% quota will be allocated for direct recruitment.

Transfer and postings

Earlier, at the outset of the cabinet meeting, Mahmood directed all ministers and secretaries of departments to devise a comprehensive and workable plan for the transfer of staff who have been working on a post in the same station for more than two years within their respective departments.

He directed that the plan should be prepared within a fortnight.

Under the proposed plan, Mahmood said that it should include transfers of field staff both at the provincial and district levels. He added that the transfer of any official decided under the plan should be final and any recommendation for readjustment on the post should be discouraged.

The chief minister also directed to create black, grey and white lists of personnel based on their performance, reputation and conduct. Moreover, the administrative department should start taking action against staff who are placed in the grey or black lists.

Moreover, no tehsildar or patwari should be posted in their home tehsils, he said, adding that all departments should work on a policy for e-transfer to bring about transparency in the process.

Furthermore, the chief minister directed all ministers to regularly review and monitor the performance of their departments to bring about improvements.

Sustenance

On the launch of the Ehsaas Nashonoma Programme, by the provincial health department and linked with the Benazir Income Support Programme, Mahmood said that it is being piloted in the Khyber and Malakand districts.

Under the programme, food supplements will be given to mothers and children for about two and a half years. Boys will be given nourishment support worth Rs1,500 every three months, while girls will get Rs2,000.

The cabinet was also briefed about the wheat and flour situation in the province. The body was told that the supply of wheat is being increased to a million metric tonnes through PASSCO and by importing the commodity. Simultaneously, the daily quota of mills will be increased from 2,000 metric tonnes to 3,000 metric tonnes to meet demand.

The provincial cabinet approved a summary from the health department to revoke the emergency exemption to the department from KPPRA Act 2012, for necessary procurement to combat the novel coronavirus (Covid-19).

In-principle approval was also given by the provincial cabinet for the K-P Local Government Coordination Unit Rules 2020, under which the authority for delimitation has been dissolved as per the decision of the Supreme Court, and transferred the power to the election commission.

The construction of a Category-B hospital for the Matta Tehsil Headquarters and a Children's Hospital in Swat through Frontier Works Organization (FWO) was also approved.

The provincial cabinet approved an increase of 10 per cent in the cost of approved schemes to 15 per cent. As per the Planning Commission's manual, the cost can be increased by up to 15% while the Financial Power Rules 2018, allows an increase of up to 10%. The provincial cabinet approved the amendment in the Financial Power Rules 2018 so that it could be done as per the manual of the planning commission.