Seminaries to join solarisation project

At least 1,000-1,500 religious schools will be included in the plan

PESHAWAR:

Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ali Amin Khan Gandapur on Monday decided to include seminaries in the project aimed at solarising mosques and worship places in the province while directing the relevant authorities to take necessary steps for the purpose.

At least 1,000-1,500 registered seminaries of settled and merged districts would be included in this scheme.

Presiding over a meeting of Energy and Power Department at the Chief Minister’s House in Peshawar, Gandapur underscored the importance of the initiative, stating that thousands of students had been studying at these seminaries.

Chief Minister’s Principal Secretary Amjad Ali Khan, Energy and Power Secretary Nisar Ahmad and other relevant officials attended the meeting.

The meeting was briefed in detail about the development projects, administrative and financial affairs and other related matters of the department.

The chief minister opted to include seminaries in the project aimed at solarising mosques and other places of worship across the province. He instructed the relevant authorities to initiate the required measures to facilitate this integration.

He further directed the quarters concerned to ensure appointment of the chief executive officer and executive committee members of Pakhtunkhwa Energy Development Organisation (PEDO) at the earliest.

Gandapur termed the timely completion of ongoing hydel power development projects of vital importance and directed the authorities concerned to ensure adherence to their deadlines.

He stressed the importance of prioritising funding for revenue-generating projects.

Meanwhile, chairing a meeting of the local government department, the chief minister directed the authorities concerned to release special funds for the payment of salaries and pensions to the employees of financially challenged tehsil municipal administrations (TMAs).

He instructed them to promptly release Rs1.5 billion for the purpose, adding that all those employees should be given a two-month salary and pension to alleviate any financial hardships during Ramazan and on Eidul Fitr.

He observed that TMAs had been grappling with salary and pension issues for several months, resulting in severe financial difficulties for employees.

The chief minister, on the occasion, was also briefed on administrative and financial matters of the department, as well as development projects, with special focus on Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Cities Improvement Project.

The meeting was attended by Provincial Minister for Local Government Arshad Ayub, Local Government Secretary Dawood Khan, and other relevant officials.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 12^th, 2024.