PDWP approves Rs33b in K-P projects

Initiatives focus on uplift, education, tech

PESHAWAR:

More than Rs33 billion in development projects have been approved for Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. The approved projects include financial assistance, land purchase for graveyards, and scholarships for minorities, along with the establishment, construction, and upgrading of primary, middle, and high schools in Upper Swat.

The seventh meeting of the Provincial Development Working Party (PDWP) was chaired by Additional Chief Secretary of Planning and Development Department Ikramullah Khan, and held in line with Chief Minister Sardar Ali Amin Khan Gandapur's development vision for the welfare of the province's people. The meeting was attended by PDWP members and officials from relevant departments.

Key projects for the province's development in agriculture, food, health, education, as well as science and technology were approved. The meeting also sanctioned financial assistance and scholarships for minorities, construction of Eidgahs and funeral areas, purchase of land for minority cemeteries, and the improvement and restoration of mosques and religious schools, including the Hafiz Ji Mosque in Bannu.

In education, projects were approved for science labs in merged districts, upgrading middle schools, and establishing and upgrading primary, middle, and high schools in Upper Swat.

The establishment of primary schools, upgrading high schools to higher secondary levels, and enhancing primary and middle schools were also part of the improvements.

Other approved projects include a feasibility study and establishment of the Swat Model School, land acquisition for the Model School in Mansehra, land purchase for schools destroyed by floods, funding for land compensation for GGHS Kamboh Peshawar, a capacity-building program for college faculty, establishment of government colleges, scholarships for students in merged areas, and strengthening the Planning Cell of the Higher Education Department.

In science and IT, approved projects included establishing a pilot Citizen Facilitation Center in Peshawar, creating CFCs in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, a digital connectivity project for merged areas, and a feasibility study for a digital economy and skills center.

Infrastructure projects include construction and feasibility study for the road from Karak's Grand Siraj Khel to Khawara, provision of land compensation for Government Polytechnic Institute in Mansehra, constructing a rest house at Shangla Top in Shangla District, widening and repairing the Mardan Paharpur Canal Road, and constructing and restoring roads and bridges in D.I. Khan.

Health projects approved include establishing breast cancer screening centers in northern and southern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, a trauma center at DHQ Hospital Lakki Marwat, feasibility study, and design for detention dams in Upper Swat, and construction of a safety wall in POFS Sultanpur Haveli in Abbottabad District. Other projects included constructing the City Khali Dam in Bannu and computerizing district arms licensing.

Additionally, the meeting approved security measures for the Khyber Spinal Route, a 120-kilometer transmission line for the hydropower project in Swat Valley, strengthening the planning cell of the Tourism and Sports Department, and agricultural development projects in Mohmand District.