Compensation okayed for blast victims
At least 57 people were killed and nearly 200 others injured in a suicide attack at an Imambargah in Peshawar's Kocha Risaldar area during Friday prayers. PHOTO: EXPRESS
The Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) cabinet on Tuesday approved a Rs2 million compensation for the victims of Koocha Risaldar suicide attack. A payout of Rs5 lakh will be handed to each seriously injured person and Rs2 lakh to the minor injured.
Chief Minister Mahmood Khan chaired the 67th meeting of the cabinet and directed that the compensation cheques must be prepared within three days.
The meeting was attended by cabinet members, chief secretary, senior member Board of Revenue and secretaries of government departments.
Special Assistant to Chief Minister on Information Barrister Muhammad Ali Saif told reporters after the meeting that cabinet also approved compensation of Rs1 million each to the families of six victims who had fallen prey to a landslide in Alpuri, Shangla district.
The chief minister, he said, has also directed amendments in the K-P Relief Act to enhance the existing rate of compensation.
Saif said that the CM directed the ministers to ensure their attendance in the provincial assembly meetings regularly. Similarly, the cabinet committees were also directed to submit their reports in next meeting.
The CM, he added, ordered inclusion of the bone marrow treatment in the Sehat Card.
The cabinet, Barrister Saif said, also decided that action would be initiated against government employees who had moved courts against inter-departmental issues such as allotment of land as land allotment to the departments is the sole prerogative of the government.
The cabinet directed the departments to complete their rules immediately and also conditionally okayed the transfer of 1,200 kanal land to ST & IT department for the establishment of Special Technology Zone Mardan.
Read More: IHC orders to payment of compensation to missing person’s family
Similarly, the cabinet approved transferring 25 kanal land, owned by the food department for godawn, in Haji Camp Peshawar to the ST & IT Department for setting up Gandahara Digital Complex.
Saif said that the cabinet approved extension in the contract work of setting up a public park in Hazar Khwani, to the south of Ring Road. An additional land measuring 24 kanal was added to the park that prompted the extension in contract to complete it.
The cabinet also approved the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Education Monitoring Authority’s rules of business, as well as the service rules for the employees of the authority.
The cabinet accorded approval for constituting a Settlement Board to conserve forests & environment, and promptly dispose of cases with regard to forest land. The Settlement Board will consist of collector revenue, divisional forest officer as well as a member from the community, he informed reporters.
The provincial cabinet gave a go-ahead to declare Koh-e-Suleman range of Dera Ismail Khan as conservancy area to provide protection to wildlife.
This conservancy area spreads over 58,000 hectares and will ensure the protection of wildlife like markhor, cheetah, fox, bears, jackals, snakes, hawks, eagle, owl etc.
The cabinet also approved a sum of Rs35.1575 million as compensation to as many as 16,800 affectees of Lal Qilla, Dir Lower who couldn’t cultivate maize crops for security reasons.
Similarly, cabinet approved a compensation of Rs1 million each to those persons who died in bombardment in district Khyber in light of the Peshawar High Court judgment. The cabinet also okayed procurement of 1.2 metric tons wheat during the year 2022-23.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 16th, 2022.