PESHAWAR: The 34th meeting of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Cabinet was held here on Friday with Chief Minister Ali Amin Khan Gandapur in the chair.

Cabinet members, Chief Secretary, Additional Chief Secretaries, Senior Member Board of Revenue, Administrative Secretaries and Advocate General Khyber Pakhtunkhwa attended the meeting.

The cabinet approved the procurement of 50 additional identical diesel-hybrid buses for BRT Peshawar at an estimated cost of Rs. 3.2 billion. It is worth noting that TransPeshawar initially procured 220 buses, with 24 more added in 2022, bringing the fleet to 244. However, due to growing public demand and the expansion of operational routes from six to eight - including the recent addition of DR-11, DR-13, and DR-14 - the procurement of more buses has become essential.

The cabinet approved the merger of ADP Scheme campuses of the Model Institute for State Children “ZamungKor” located in Swat, D.I. Khan, Abbottabad, and the Girls Campus in Peshawar into the already functional autonomous body of the ZamungKor Model Institute for State Children, Peshawar. Currently, 600 children are enrolled at the Peshawar institute, while an additional 425 students are enrolled across the four ADP scheme campuses.

The cabinet approved signing of agreement between Pak Qatar Asset Management as the 13th Asset Management Company under CP Fund Rules 2022. To address the issues of unsustainable pension expenses, the Government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa initiated pension reforms in 2015, which included the transition from an unfunded pension system to a funded pension scheme. Consequently, Contributory Provident Fund was introduced.

Under the new system, contributions from both employees and government are invested in the market through professional asset management companies registered with the Security and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP). In January 2022, the Government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa began entering into agreements with asset management companies having SECP voluntary pension scheme licenses under the Contributory Provident Fund Rules, 2022. Consequently, 12 companies entered into agreement with the government to manage the Pension Fund.

The cabinet approved amendments in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Right to Public Services Act, 2014. The purpose of the amendment is to simply notifying Public Services, coordination between the Commission and Departments, clarification of the vague provision for e-governance, provision for public oversight and accountability of the Commission. Moreover, provision of reasonable accommodation has been added to achieve international benchmarks by providing statutory provision for facilitation of the marginalized segments of the society.

The cabinet approved amendment to Sub Rule (07) Rule 11 of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Public Private Partnership (selection of Private Partner) Rules, 2021. The rule pertains to the response time of bidders provides a time frame of sixty (60) days for a bidder to respond to a bid. As per the amendment the RFP shall be disseminated amongst the pre-qualified or shortlisted bidders, as the case may be, with a minimum response time to thirty (30) days. It constituted a committee to deliberate on Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Public Lands Utilization and Management Bill, 2025 and present recommendations to the cabinet. The cabinet approved the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Non-Governmental Organization (working in the field of human rights) Rules, 2025.

The cabinet approved a Non-ADP scheme with a total cost of Rs. 124.016 million for the current financial year for resumption of salaries of contract staff of Provincial Earthquake Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Agency (PERRA). The approval was also granted to issue termination notices to the contract staff of PERRA from 1st July 2025.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2025