PESHAWAR: Provincial cabinet of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has approved the Hybrid Wheat Procurement and Strategic Reserves Policy 2026 as the framework for future wheat procurement in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
The policy envisages a gradual transition from a state dominated procurement model towards a market based wheat economy, supported by indicative pricing mechanisms to promote price stability.
It also provides for the maintenance of strategic reserves to safeguard food security and encourages enhanced private sector participation in wheat procurement, storage and trading. The policy is expected to significantly reduce the fiscal burden on the provincial exchequer over time.
The Cabinet also approved the proposal to take up wheat procurement related liabilities amounting to Rs 38.042 billion with the federal government for adjustment against PASSCO liabilities of Rs 41.97 billion, with the remaining balance of Rs 3.928 billion to be settled in favour of PASSCO.
Similarly, the cabinet also approved Rs4.065 billion to meet critical human resource requirements in the health sector.
The Cabinet further authorised the Health Department to undertake recruitment against these positions through walk in interviews to be conducted by Divisional Level Departmental Selection Committees in accordance with the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Health Department Contract Appointment of Doctors Fixed Pay Rules 2022 as amended in 2025. The measure is intended to ensure uninterrupted and efficient provision of healthcare services across the province.
Likewise, the Cabinet also approved the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Vagrancy Control and Rehabilitation Bill 2025 for placement before the Provincial Assembly.
The proposed legislation introduces a modernized and rights based framework for addressing vagrancy in the province, replacing the existing legal framework introduced in 2020.
The 48th meeting of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Cabinet was held in Peshawar under the chairmanship of Chief Minister Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Muhammad Sohail Afridi, who presided over the meeting via video link from Islamabad. Cabinet members, the Chief Secretary, Additional Chief Secretaries, the Senior Member Board of Revenue, Administrative Secretaries and the Advocate General Khyber Pakhtunkhwa attended the meeting.
The Cabinet further approved a grant in aid of Rs 196 million for the provision of laptops to minority students enrolled in BS, MBBS and Engineering, MPhil and MS, and PhD programmes under the Chief Minister’s Digital Inclusion Programme for Minority Students.
The Cabinet also approved the establishment of breast screening centres at five divisional headquarters. It approved the transfer of 15 kanal of land to the Health Department for the establishment of a nursing college in Upper Chitral. It also approved cost enhancement for setting up a Women and Children Hospital in Sarai Naurang, district Lakki Marwat.
The Cabinet approved funding arrangements for land acquisition for the Peshawar Dera Ismail Khan Motorway through intra and inter sectoral re-appropriation of resources.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2026
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