Syed Haider Imam
Chief Minister (5k+ posts)
May 16 2016
KPK Updates
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Syed Haider Imam
Chief Minister (5k+ posts)
May 17 2016
Syed Haider Imam
Chief Minister (5k+ posts)
May 18 2016
Syed Haider Imam
Chief Minister (5k+ posts)
May 19 2016
Syed Haider Imam
Chief Minister (5k+ posts)
[h=1]300 feeders exempted from unscheduled loadshedding
[/h] PESHAWAR: The Peshawar Electric Supply Company (Pesco) claims to have exempted from unscheduled loadshedding 300 feeders, including industrial, where line losses are less than 30 per cent in order to provide relief to consumers during the hot weather.
A Pesco statement issued here on Wednesday claimed that owing to best generation management by the federal government, unscheduled loadshedding had been stopped.
It was further claimed that as compared to May 2015 power supply had been increased up to 2,500 megawatt this year which had led to decrease in duration of loadshedding in the country.
The statement said about 300 feeders with less line losses had been exempted from loadshedding, while on over 200 feeders loadshedding duration was between four to six hours, and over 300 feeders, where line losses were above 50 per cent, had to face 12 to 20 hours of outages.
It said that under a policy, the Pesco was carrying out lesser loadshedding where line losses were less and recovery was better.
The Pesco management is trying to carry out loadshedding according to a formula: where theft is higher, loadshedding will be more and where theft is lesser and recovery is better, lesser loadshedding will be carried out, said the statement.
If the people of excessive loadshedding areas removed direct hooks and paid their electricity bills, they would have decreased loadshedding, the statement quoted the Pesco chief as promising.
He urged people to avoid using illegal connections so they could get relief in outages.
Meanwhile, over 500 people have removed illegal connections in localities of Taj Abad subdivision, including Abdara and Sufaid Dheri, and submitted applications for installation of power meters. Subsequently, outages duration in these areas has been reduced from 18 to 14 hours.
Published in Dawn, May 19th, 2016
http://www.dawn.com/news/1259333/300-feeders-exempted-from-unscheduled-loadshedding
[h=1]Section 4 imposed to acquire land for Mansehra airport
[/h] MANSEHRA: The district administration here on Tuesday imposed Section 4 of Land Acquisition Act, 1894 to acquire 6,302-kanal in Tanawal area of Mansehra for the establishment of an airport.
A notification was also issued, asking Civil Aviation Authority to complete survey of the airport and other formalities in that regard.
“The land is likely to be required by government at public expense for public purpose namely for the construction/establishment of airport at Mansehra,” said the notification issued by district administration. The land of eight villages including Lassan Nawaz, Dhairy, Palsala, Bandi Koragwal, Kund, Sawan Mera, Jisgran Bala and Jisgran Pain is being acquired for the establishment of airport.
The copies of said notification are also dispatched to Senior Member Board of Revenue Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Hazara Commissioner, director commercial and estate HQCAA Karachi, senior joint director (estate) of CAA, BBIAP, Islamabad, the manager of Government Printing Press Peshawar for publication of government gazette and teshisldar of Mansehra.
Sources said that survey was started last year after MNA Mohammad Safdar, the son-i-law of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, announced the airport project.
“If the airport is established here, it would provide air travelling services to people of entire Hazara as Mansehra is situated at the centre of the division and people from Kohistan, Torghar, Battagram and Abbottabad can easily reach there,” said an official.
Meanwhile, the landowners and residents of Tanawal have expressed pleasure over the planned establishment of airport in the area and asked the government to fix reasonable price of their land being acquired of the project.
MERGER: Quami Watan Party MPA Ibrar Tanoli has said that people will never allow the provincial government to merge Dara Shanya union council of Oghi tehsil into Torghar district.
“We would never allow government to make Dara Shanya union council of Mansehra a part of Torghar. If government attempts any such move, it will be foiled by force,” he told journalists in Oghi on Tuesday.
The MPA said that people of Darband were already protesting against the proposal. He said that provincial government should allocate funds for development of the union council instead of it merging with Torghar.
Mr Tanoli said that Torghar was yet to get complete status of a complete settled district as its residents still preferred jirga system to police or courts for settling their disputes.
The MPA said that all the union councils of his constituency including Dara Shanya were being given equal share in development funds.
Published in Dawn, May 18th, 2016
http://www.dawn.com/news/1259106/section-4-imposed-to-acquire-land-for-mansehra-airport
[h=1]Sacked doctors to agitate for reinstatement
[/h]PESHAWAR: The sacked ad hoc doctors of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa have demanded of the provincial government to reinstate them at earliest otherwise they will start agitation and entire responsibility will rest with the officials concerned.
Addressing a news conference at Peshawar Press Club on Tuesday, Ad hoc Doctor Association president Dr Farhanullah Shah expressed serious concerns over termination of their services without issuance of any notice to them by the provincial government.
He said that the doctors were appointed in September 2015 on ad hoc basis for one year, but the termination orders were issued by provincial government before expiry of their service period.
Dr Farhanullah said that 321 ad hoc doctors, including 36 lady doctors, were regularly performing their duties at major teaching hospitals and periphery health units across the province. He said that ad hoc doctors were selected through National Testing Service, followed by departmental interview.
Flanked by Dr Sajid Hussain from Peshawar, Dr Wahid Khan from Swabi, Dr Abdul Rehman from Charsadda, and Dr Kamran from district Mardan, the association president said that the decision of their termination would leave them with only option to agitate because they had no other source of income.
He urged the government to review its decision and restore their services immediately. He said that government decided to wind up Provincial Public Health Initiative (PPHI) owing to which 574 positions would fall vacant in health sector. Dr Farhanullah said that doctors had qualified Provincial Public Service Commission (PPSC) examination and 90 per cent of them selected for FCPS, which could take four years to complete the training programme.
When asked about the main reason behind their termination, Dr Farhanullah said that government terminated ad hoc doctors owing to arrival of doctors after qualifying examination of Provincial Public Service Commission.
However, he said that a number of vacancies were still lying vacant in provincial health department and chief minister himself had admitted it. The ad hoc doctors could be accommodated, he added.
Dr Farhanullah urged chief minister, provincial health minister and officials concerned to review the decision of termination of their services in the best interest of health sector, otherwise they would start agitation.
Published in Dawn, May 18th, 201
http://www.dawn.com/news/1259097/sacked-doctors-to-agitate-for-reinstatement
[h=1]Back-up hospital fails to reduce load on LRH
[/h] PESHAWAR: The construction of Maulvi Ameer Shah Memorial Hospital to reduce workload on Lady Reading Hospital has proved an exercise in futility as patients avoid visiting it owing to non-availability of facilities, according to sources.
They said equipment at the hospital and several parts of its building were rusting. They said that the previous government started the hospital in 2009 but it didn’t make any progress owing to appointment of diploma-holders instead of specialists against the basic objective of the project, a brainchild of a former military governor, who had tasked late Malik Saad, the then head of municipalities, to establish women and children hospital on the plot of Roadways House.
The project went into hibernation when Malik Saad went back to police department. A medical superintendent of the hospital was sent to jail by the court on account of massive corruption and his failure to make the facility functional, said sources.
They said that the hospital was not admitting patients till 2012 on the plea that the building was not completed but at the same time government allocated funds for purchase of medicines etc. A former secretary health took notice of the situation and it started hospitalisation of women and children.
[h=4]Diploma holders appointed at Maulvi Ameer Shah Memorial Hospital instead of specialist doctors[/h]
However, only 30 per cent beds in the gynaecology ward and 22 per cent in pediatrics remained occupied because patents didn’t come there and preferred to visit LRH, located at a stone’s throw distance, sources said. The government had so far transferred many medical superintendents for poor performance.
As its last efforts to improve services, the health department ordered its merger with LRH in 2015 to develop a full-fledged specialised hospital. The move hasn’t yet taken shape due to stay orders issued by Peshawar High Court against its merger.
The gynecologists and paediatricians at LRH were supposed to work at the hospital and upgrade the facility. Sources said that upgradation of the hospital could ensure 100 per cent bed occupancy when the patients found the doctors of LRH there.
LRH, the biggest hospital of the province, is facing acute shortage of beds in its children and gynea wards where two patients are put on one bed.
The government had planned to start inducting trainee medical officers for post-graduation in paeds and gynea departments but the existing staffers, who thought they would lost their positions when the plan was implemented, blocked the move through court, sources said.
It has stopped emergency operations on critically-ill or injured people. The CT scan machine, 12-bed intensive care unit and costly equipment, such as laparoscope and fluoroscope have gone into disuse due to lack of maintenance.
“Subsequently, the situation with regard to patients’ care at the hospital located in Hashtnagri has been deteriorating,” sources said. The falling standard of the facility has also worried the health department, which has pinned hopes on LRH to run the category B hospital, having gynaecology, pediatrics, radiology, pathology and anesthesia departments.
“But after several years, it is run by medical officers, who are seen everywhere including outpatients departments (OPD), emergency, wards and operation theatres,” said sources.
Published in Dawn, May 17th, 2016
http://www.dawn.com/news/1258886/back-up-hospital-fails-to-reduce-load-on-lrh
[h=1]Govt to take back basic health units from NGO
[/h] PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government has decided to take back management of the basic health units (BHUs) after refusal by Sarhad Rural Support Programme to entertain a government’s request to continue managing these outlets, according to sources.
On May 11, the health department requested the deputy commissioners of 17 districts to form committees in their respective districts to take back the BHUs from SRSP and hand them over to the district health officers (DHOs) by June 30 2016.
The provincial government began outsourcing BHUs to non-governmental organisations in 2006 in two districts and extended it to 21 districts by January 2013.
The previous governments of Mutahidda Majlis-i-Amal (MMA) and Awami National Party engaged NGOs through simple agreements or memorandum of understanding under which the contracting partners received the whole budget of the respective districts.
[h=4]District health officers appreciate govt’s decision[/h]
The SRSP ran more than 570 basic health units in 17 districts. The government requested the NGO to continue work in these districts before expiry of the last contract with it in December 2015. However, the SRSP, which managed the BHUs under the package called People’s Primary Healthcare Initiative (PPHI), refused to continue the assignment.
The SRSP declined to continue the assignment even after the chief minister extended its contract till June 2018 and wrote a letter to health secretary wherein the former expressed inability to continue working anymore. “Earlier, it agreed to continue till end of the current financial year,” sources said.
Besides SRSP, three other NGOs, which ran health units in four districts, already left due to government’s refusal to extend their contracts.
Sources said that about two months ago, the government flouted an advertisement in press, asking the NGOs to show expression of interest for running all the 781 BHUs in the province.
The government had planned to outsource the health facilities through proposed amendments to Public Private-Partnership Act, 2012 to remove health-related agreements and contracts from its domain. Under the Act, the facilities had to be contracted after the approval of finance, health and establishment departments and the amendment to it would have enabled the health department to do it on its own.
About 55 NGOs had applied to take part in the bidding process.
The provincial assembly is yet to approve the proposed amendment which prompted the health department to hand over the BHUs to district health officers.
The order issued from the office of health secretary asked the relevant officials to complete the taking over exercise from SRSP on stock register and check the condition of buildings and equipment as well as stock of medicines. The SRSP has been asked to deposit the remaining amount in the government’s kitty after June 30.
Meanwhile, DHOs have appreciated the government’s decision of taking over the BHUs from the SRSP and said that they had capacity to run those outlets.
A senior DHO told Dawn that government was spending about Rs15 billion on district health delivery network that was utilised by the NGOs. “Now the entire budget will be spent by the DHOs who can improve healthcare if given independence like the NGOs,” he said.
He said that DHOs had to wait for moths for a small repair while the NGOs did the same within days. The NGOs were exempted from following government’s rules which made things fast, he said.
The official said that NGOs received the whole budget and employed people where they were needed while it took years for DHOs to make recruitments owing to the complicated process.
“We want the government to bring flexibility in utilisation of funds, hiring of staff and purchase of medicines etc to ensure better facilities at the BHUs,” he said.
Published in Dawn, May 16th, 2016
[h=1]http://www.dawn.com/news/1258680/govt-to-take-back-basic-health-units-from-ngo
[/h][h=1]Education department plans review, standardisation of school books
[/h] PESHAWAR: The Elementary and Secondary Education Department (E&SE) has decided to review and standardise textbooks being taught in the public sector schools with the objective to incorporate quality material therein, according to sources.
The decision has been taken as part of the initiative to maintain minimum standards in textbooks from grade-I to the intermediate level, sources in the E&SE Department told Dawn.
They said that textbooks of mathematics, science, English, chemistry, physics and biology from grade-I to intermediate level would be reviewed and standardised in different phases. For this purpose, the education department has made a comprehensive plan, they said.
They said that if the planned review and standardisation of the textbooks was successfully conducted and objectives achieved then Khyber Pakhtunkhwa would be the first province in the country to have textbooks meeting the criteria of minimum standards.
[h=4]Officials say better material to be incorporated into textbooks[/h]
Besides incorporating quality material into the textbooks, the education department also desires to attract the private schools to introduce the education department’s textbooks in their respective schools, the sources said.
They said that the education department at present couldn’t force the private schools to introduce its textbooks as it couldn’t compete with the different publishers and printers whose books had been introduced since long.
The plan of reviewing textbooks and incorporation of quality content consists of four phases to be completed by June 2018, they said. The sources said that in the first phase the target was the textbooks of science, mathematics and English at primary level while the textbooks for middle class would be improved in the second phase.
Similarly, the textbooks of physics, chemistry, biology, English, mathematics and science for the high and higher secondary schools would be reviewed and improved in the third and fourth phases, respectively.
In this connection, the education department has already initiated imparting training to the officials of Directorate of Curricula and Teachers Education, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Textbook Board, authors, publishers and reviewers about how to review and standardise the books, the sources said.
They said that the reviewed books with quality contents would be introduced at primary level from the next academic session commencing from April 2017.
However, the sources said that only review and incorporation of quality contents into the textbooks would not be enough rather the education department must also change the existing examination system and teaching methodologies. They said that improved textbooks would have no benefit without imparting training to the teachers and changing the examination system.
The E&SE Department has approved the minimum standards for quality in education, which were prepared with consensus by all the provinces and federal government to maintain uniformity in the education sector. The minimum standards were established regarding curricula, textbooks, teachers, students’ assessment, school learning environment, etc.
With the devolution of curricula to provinces in the light of 18th constitutional amendment, setting up minimum standards in the education sector was a vital decision that would keep education uniform in the country, the sources said.
Published in Dawn, May 15th, 2016
[h=1]Doctors leaving govt jobs to join international organisations
[/h] PESHAWAR: More and more doctors, especially those in the management cadre, are leaving the provincial health department for jobs abroad or with international organisations over bleak chances of promotion home, say sources.
Recently, four such medics signed job contracts with Saudi-based hospitals for better salary and fringe benefits, sources told Dawn.
The government had bifurcated the management and general cadre in January 2009 with a view to appoint specialists to management positions in health department and districts for better utilisation of resources.
The plan, however, didn’t work due to a lack of incentives for the highly-qualified and experienced employees.
The sources said many senior doctors from the management cadre had left for international organisations for monetary benefits and better chances of exposure and career growth despite a keen desire to serve the department.
They said many doctors, who were on deputation with UN and other international organisation, opted to resign from their health department jobs when they were asked to report back.
The sources said the medics, who joined international organisations, received better salary and technical knowhow on the basis of which they got senior positions, but those who preferred to stay in the health department, felt on the receiving end.
They said a woman doctor working in the health department for 20 years would be joined by her daughter to be appointed soon as medical officer in the same grade in which her mother was.
The sources said such a situation had caused lethargy and demotivation among doctors.
They said an acute shortage on the management side was felt but there was no incentives and service career for doctors.
The sources said many doctors retired in the same grade in which they’re posted.
According to them, around 350 management cadre doctors, who worked on managerial positions like district health officers, directors, deputy directors, agency surgeons and project managers, have been awaiting promotion for decades but on the contrary, others coming as section officers are promoted trough a smooth system.
The sources said district healthcare system desperately required better trained health administrators to manage facilities.
They said four management posts of BPS-20, 43 of BPS-19 and 50 of BPS-18 had been lying vacant at the health department for several years though dozens of doctors awaited promotions.
The sources said a summary for the promotion of management cadre doctors had been sent to the government in September last year but the response to it was still awaited.
They said under the rules, 24 of those posts were to be filled through promotions and the rest through the public service commission.
The sources said junior doctors worked on senior positions without promotion to vacant posts and thus, causing brain drain from the department.
They said many doctors with management education from UK, Australia and Germany were weighing options to get jobs in international organisations.
The sources said the time-scale promotions had been enforced in Punjab, Balochistan and Sindh, which introduced the management cadre after Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, which is bereft of any formula.
They said the government had obtained undertakings from doctors that they wouldn’t do private practice and therefore, they’re totally dependent on salary.
Published in Dawn, May 15th, 2016
[h=1]http://www.dawn.com/news/1258488/doctors-leaving-govt-jobs-to-join-international-organisations
[/h]
[/h] PESHAWAR: The Peshawar Electric Supply Company (Pesco) claims to have exempted from unscheduled loadshedding 300 feeders, including industrial, where line losses are less than 30 per cent in order to provide relief to consumers during the hot weather.
A Pesco statement issued here on Wednesday claimed that owing to best generation management by the federal government, unscheduled loadshedding had been stopped.
It was further claimed that as compared to May 2015 power supply had been increased up to 2,500 megawatt this year which had led to decrease in duration of loadshedding in the country.
The statement said about 300 feeders with less line losses had been exempted from loadshedding, while on over 200 feeders loadshedding duration was between four to six hours, and over 300 feeders, where line losses were above 50 per cent, had to face 12 to 20 hours of outages.
It said that under a policy, the Pesco was carrying out lesser loadshedding where line losses were less and recovery was better.
The Pesco management is trying to carry out loadshedding according to a formula: where theft is higher, loadshedding will be more and where theft is lesser and recovery is better, lesser loadshedding will be carried out, said the statement.
If the people of excessive loadshedding areas removed direct hooks and paid their electricity bills, they would have decreased loadshedding, the statement quoted the Pesco chief as promising.
He urged people to avoid using illegal connections so they could get relief in outages.
Meanwhile, over 500 people have removed illegal connections in localities of Taj Abad subdivision, including Abdara and Sufaid Dheri, and submitted applications for installation of power meters. Subsequently, outages duration in these areas has been reduced from 18 to 14 hours.
Published in Dawn, May 19th, 2016
http://www.dawn.com/news/1259333/300-feeders-exempted-from-unscheduled-loadshedding
[h=1]Section 4 imposed to acquire land for Mansehra airport
[/h] MANSEHRA: The district administration here on Tuesday imposed Section 4 of Land Acquisition Act, 1894 to acquire 6,302-kanal in Tanawal area of Mansehra for the establishment of an airport.
A notification was also issued, asking Civil Aviation Authority to complete survey of the airport and other formalities in that regard.
“The land is likely to be required by government at public expense for public purpose namely for the construction/establishment of airport at Mansehra,” said the notification issued by district administration. The land of eight villages including Lassan Nawaz, Dhairy, Palsala, Bandi Koragwal, Kund, Sawan Mera, Jisgran Bala and Jisgran Pain is being acquired for the establishment of airport.
The copies of said notification are also dispatched to Senior Member Board of Revenue Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Hazara Commissioner, director commercial and estate HQCAA Karachi, senior joint director (estate) of CAA, BBIAP, Islamabad, the manager of Government Printing Press Peshawar for publication of government gazette and teshisldar of Mansehra.
Sources said that survey was started last year after MNA Mohammad Safdar, the son-i-law of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, announced the airport project.
“If the airport is established here, it would provide air travelling services to people of entire Hazara as Mansehra is situated at the centre of the division and people from Kohistan, Torghar, Battagram and Abbottabad can easily reach there,” said an official.
Meanwhile, the landowners and residents of Tanawal have expressed pleasure over the planned establishment of airport in the area and asked the government to fix reasonable price of their land being acquired of the project.
MERGER: Quami Watan Party MPA Ibrar Tanoli has said that people will never allow the provincial government to merge Dara Shanya union council of Oghi tehsil into Torghar district.
“We would never allow government to make Dara Shanya union council of Mansehra a part of Torghar. If government attempts any such move, it will be foiled by force,” he told journalists in Oghi on Tuesday.
The MPA said that people of Darband were already protesting against the proposal. He said that provincial government should allocate funds for development of the union council instead of it merging with Torghar.
Mr Tanoli said that Torghar was yet to get complete status of a complete settled district as its residents still preferred jirga system to police or courts for settling their disputes.
The MPA said that all the union councils of his constituency including Dara Shanya were being given equal share in development funds.
Published in Dawn, May 18th, 2016
http://www.dawn.com/news/1259106/section-4-imposed-to-acquire-land-for-mansehra-airport
[h=1]Sacked doctors to agitate for reinstatement
[/h]PESHAWAR: The sacked ad hoc doctors of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa have demanded of the provincial government to reinstate them at earliest otherwise they will start agitation and entire responsibility will rest with the officials concerned.
Addressing a news conference at Peshawar Press Club on Tuesday, Ad hoc Doctor Association president Dr Farhanullah Shah expressed serious concerns over termination of their services without issuance of any notice to them by the provincial government.
He said that the doctors were appointed in September 2015 on ad hoc basis for one year, but the termination orders were issued by provincial government before expiry of their service period.
Dr Farhanullah said that 321 ad hoc doctors, including 36 lady doctors, were regularly performing their duties at major teaching hospitals and periphery health units across the province. He said that ad hoc doctors were selected through National Testing Service, followed by departmental interview.
Flanked by Dr Sajid Hussain from Peshawar, Dr Wahid Khan from Swabi, Dr Abdul Rehman from Charsadda, and Dr Kamran from district Mardan, the association president said that the decision of their termination would leave them with only option to agitate because they had no other source of income.
He urged the government to review its decision and restore their services immediately. He said that government decided to wind up Provincial Public Health Initiative (PPHI) owing to which 574 positions would fall vacant in health sector. Dr Farhanullah said that doctors had qualified Provincial Public Service Commission (PPSC) examination and 90 per cent of them selected for FCPS, which could take four years to complete the training programme.
When asked about the main reason behind their termination, Dr Farhanullah said that government terminated ad hoc doctors owing to arrival of doctors after qualifying examination of Provincial Public Service Commission.
However, he said that a number of vacancies were still lying vacant in provincial health department and chief minister himself had admitted it. The ad hoc doctors could be accommodated, he added.
Dr Farhanullah urged chief minister, provincial health minister and officials concerned to review the decision of termination of their services in the best interest of health sector, otherwise they would start agitation.
Published in Dawn, May 18th, 201
http://www.dawn.com/news/1259097/sacked-doctors-to-agitate-for-reinstatement
[h=1]Back-up hospital fails to reduce load on LRH
[/h] PESHAWAR: The construction of Maulvi Ameer Shah Memorial Hospital to reduce workload on Lady Reading Hospital has proved an exercise in futility as patients avoid visiting it owing to non-availability of facilities, according to sources.
They said equipment at the hospital and several parts of its building were rusting. They said that the previous government started the hospital in 2009 but it didn’t make any progress owing to appointment of diploma-holders instead of specialists against the basic objective of the project, a brainchild of a former military governor, who had tasked late Malik Saad, the then head of municipalities, to establish women and children hospital on the plot of Roadways House.
The project went into hibernation when Malik Saad went back to police department. A medical superintendent of the hospital was sent to jail by the court on account of massive corruption and his failure to make the facility functional, said sources.
They said that the hospital was not admitting patients till 2012 on the plea that the building was not completed but at the same time government allocated funds for purchase of medicines etc. A former secretary health took notice of the situation and it started hospitalisation of women and children.
[h=4]Diploma holders appointed at Maulvi Ameer Shah Memorial Hospital instead of specialist doctors[/h]
However, only 30 per cent beds in the gynaecology ward and 22 per cent in pediatrics remained occupied because patents didn’t come there and preferred to visit LRH, located at a stone’s throw distance, sources said. The government had so far transferred many medical superintendents for poor performance.
As its last efforts to improve services, the health department ordered its merger with LRH in 2015 to develop a full-fledged specialised hospital. The move hasn’t yet taken shape due to stay orders issued by Peshawar High Court against its merger.
The gynecologists and paediatricians at LRH were supposed to work at the hospital and upgrade the facility. Sources said that upgradation of the hospital could ensure 100 per cent bed occupancy when the patients found the doctors of LRH there.
LRH, the biggest hospital of the province, is facing acute shortage of beds in its children and gynea wards where two patients are put on one bed.
The government had planned to start inducting trainee medical officers for post-graduation in paeds and gynea departments but the existing staffers, who thought they would lost their positions when the plan was implemented, blocked the move through court, sources said.
It has stopped emergency operations on critically-ill or injured people. The CT scan machine, 12-bed intensive care unit and costly equipment, such as laparoscope and fluoroscope have gone into disuse due to lack of maintenance.
“Subsequently, the situation with regard to patients’ care at the hospital located in Hashtnagri has been deteriorating,” sources said. The falling standard of the facility has also worried the health department, which has pinned hopes on LRH to run the category B hospital, having gynaecology, pediatrics, radiology, pathology and anesthesia departments.
“But after several years, it is run by medical officers, who are seen everywhere including outpatients departments (OPD), emergency, wards and operation theatres,” said sources.
Published in Dawn, May 17th, 2016
http://www.dawn.com/news/1258886/back-up-hospital-fails-to-reduce-load-on-lrh
[h=1]Govt to take back basic health units from NGO
[/h] PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government has decided to take back management of the basic health units (BHUs) after refusal by Sarhad Rural Support Programme to entertain a government’s request to continue managing these outlets, according to sources.
On May 11, the health department requested the deputy commissioners of 17 districts to form committees in their respective districts to take back the BHUs from SRSP and hand them over to the district health officers (DHOs) by June 30 2016.
The provincial government began outsourcing BHUs to non-governmental organisations in 2006 in two districts and extended it to 21 districts by January 2013.
The previous governments of Mutahidda Majlis-i-Amal (MMA) and Awami National Party engaged NGOs through simple agreements or memorandum of understanding under which the contracting partners received the whole budget of the respective districts.
[h=4]District health officers appreciate govt’s decision[/h]
The SRSP ran more than 570 basic health units in 17 districts. The government requested the NGO to continue work in these districts before expiry of the last contract with it in December 2015. However, the SRSP, which managed the BHUs under the package called People’s Primary Healthcare Initiative (PPHI), refused to continue the assignment.
The SRSP declined to continue the assignment even after the chief minister extended its contract till June 2018 and wrote a letter to health secretary wherein the former expressed inability to continue working anymore. “Earlier, it agreed to continue till end of the current financial year,” sources said.
Besides SRSP, three other NGOs, which ran health units in four districts, already left due to government’s refusal to extend their contracts.
Sources said that about two months ago, the government flouted an advertisement in press, asking the NGOs to show expression of interest for running all the 781 BHUs in the province.
The government had planned to outsource the health facilities through proposed amendments to Public Private-Partnership Act, 2012 to remove health-related agreements and contracts from its domain. Under the Act, the facilities had to be contracted after the approval of finance, health and establishment departments and the amendment to it would have enabled the health department to do it on its own.
About 55 NGOs had applied to take part in the bidding process.
The provincial assembly is yet to approve the proposed amendment which prompted the health department to hand over the BHUs to district health officers.
The order issued from the office of health secretary asked the relevant officials to complete the taking over exercise from SRSP on stock register and check the condition of buildings and equipment as well as stock of medicines. The SRSP has been asked to deposit the remaining amount in the government’s kitty after June 30.
Meanwhile, DHOs have appreciated the government’s decision of taking over the BHUs from the SRSP and said that they had capacity to run those outlets.
A senior DHO told Dawn that government was spending about Rs15 billion on district health delivery network that was utilised by the NGOs. “Now the entire budget will be spent by the DHOs who can improve healthcare if given independence like the NGOs,” he said.
He said that DHOs had to wait for moths for a small repair while the NGOs did the same within days. The NGOs were exempted from following government’s rules which made things fast, he said.
The official said that NGOs received the whole budget and employed people where they were needed while it took years for DHOs to make recruitments owing to the complicated process.
“We want the government to bring flexibility in utilisation of funds, hiring of staff and purchase of medicines etc to ensure better facilities at the BHUs,” he said.
Published in Dawn, May 16th, 2016
[h=1]http://www.dawn.com/news/1258680/govt-to-take-back-basic-health-units-from-ngo
[/h][h=1]Education department plans review, standardisation of school books
[/h] PESHAWAR: The Elementary and Secondary Education Department (E&SE) has decided to review and standardise textbooks being taught in the public sector schools with the objective to incorporate quality material therein, according to sources.
The decision has been taken as part of the initiative to maintain minimum standards in textbooks from grade-I to the intermediate level, sources in the E&SE Department told Dawn.
They said that textbooks of mathematics, science, English, chemistry, physics and biology from grade-I to intermediate level would be reviewed and standardised in different phases. For this purpose, the education department has made a comprehensive plan, they said.
They said that if the planned review and standardisation of the textbooks was successfully conducted and objectives achieved then Khyber Pakhtunkhwa would be the first province in the country to have textbooks meeting the criteria of minimum standards.
[h=4]Officials say better material to be incorporated into textbooks[/h]
Besides incorporating quality material into the textbooks, the education department also desires to attract the private schools to introduce the education department’s textbooks in their respective schools, the sources said.
They said that the education department at present couldn’t force the private schools to introduce its textbooks as it couldn’t compete with the different publishers and printers whose books had been introduced since long.
The plan of reviewing textbooks and incorporation of quality content consists of four phases to be completed by June 2018, they said. The sources said that in the first phase the target was the textbooks of science, mathematics and English at primary level while the textbooks for middle class would be improved in the second phase.
Similarly, the textbooks of physics, chemistry, biology, English, mathematics and science for the high and higher secondary schools would be reviewed and improved in the third and fourth phases, respectively.
In this connection, the education department has already initiated imparting training to the officials of Directorate of Curricula and Teachers Education, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Textbook Board, authors, publishers and reviewers about how to review and standardise the books, the sources said.
They said that the reviewed books with quality contents would be introduced at primary level from the next academic session commencing from April 2017.
However, the sources said that only review and incorporation of quality contents into the textbooks would not be enough rather the education department must also change the existing examination system and teaching methodologies. They said that improved textbooks would have no benefit without imparting training to the teachers and changing the examination system.
The E&SE Department has approved the minimum standards for quality in education, which were prepared with consensus by all the provinces and federal government to maintain uniformity in the education sector. The minimum standards were established regarding curricula, textbooks, teachers, students’ assessment, school learning environment, etc.
With the devolution of curricula to provinces in the light of 18th constitutional amendment, setting up minimum standards in the education sector was a vital decision that would keep education uniform in the country, the sources said.
Published in Dawn, May 15th, 2016
[h=1]Doctors leaving govt jobs to join international organisations
[/h] PESHAWAR: More and more doctors, especially those in the management cadre, are leaving the provincial health department for jobs abroad or with international organisations over bleak chances of promotion home, say sources.
Recently, four such medics signed job contracts with Saudi-based hospitals for better salary and fringe benefits, sources told Dawn.
The government had bifurcated the management and general cadre in January 2009 with a view to appoint specialists to management positions in health department and districts for better utilisation of resources.
The plan, however, didn’t work due to a lack of incentives for the highly-qualified and experienced employees.
The sources said many senior doctors from the management cadre had left for international organisations for monetary benefits and better chances of exposure and career growth despite a keen desire to serve the department.
They said many doctors, who were on deputation with UN and other international organisation, opted to resign from their health department jobs when they were asked to report back.
The sources said the medics, who joined international organisations, received better salary and technical knowhow on the basis of which they got senior positions, but those who preferred to stay in the health department, felt on the receiving end.
They said a woman doctor working in the health department for 20 years would be joined by her daughter to be appointed soon as medical officer in the same grade in which her mother was.
The sources said such a situation had caused lethargy and demotivation among doctors.
They said an acute shortage on the management side was felt but there was no incentives and service career for doctors.
The sources said many doctors retired in the same grade in which they’re posted.
According to them, around 350 management cadre doctors, who worked on managerial positions like district health officers, directors, deputy directors, agency surgeons and project managers, have been awaiting promotion for decades but on the contrary, others coming as section officers are promoted trough a smooth system.
The sources said district healthcare system desperately required better trained health administrators to manage facilities.
They said four management posts of BPS-20, 43 of BPS-19 and 50 of BPS-18 had been lying vacant at the health department for several years though dozens of doctors awaited promotions.
The sources said a summary for the promotion of management cadre doctors had been sent to the government in September last year but the response to it was still awaited.
They said under the rules, 24 of those posts were to be filled through promotions and the rest through the public service commission.
The sources said junior doctors worked on senior positions without promotion to vacant posts and thus, causing brain drain from the department.
They said many doctors with management education from UK, Australia and Germany were weighing options to get jobs in international organisations.
The sources said the time-scale promotions had been enforced in Punjab, Balochistan and Sindh, which introduced the management cadre after Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, which is bereft of any formula.
They said the government had obtained undertakings from doctors that they wouldn’t do private practice and therefore, they’re totally dependent on salary.
Published in Dawn, May 15th, 2016
[h=1]http://www.dawn.com/news/1258488/doctors-leaving-govt-jobs-to-join-international-organisations
[/h]
Syed Haider Imam
Chief Minister (5k+ posts)
MAY 20 2016
Syed Haider Imam
Chief Minister (5k+ posts)
21 MAY 2016
Syed Haider Imam
Chief Minister (5k+ posts)
MAY 22 016
Syed Haider Imam
Chief Minister (5k+ posts)
[h=1]Govt slashed ADP twice in current fiscal
[/h] PESHAWAR: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has had to twice cut down its Annual Development Programme during the current financial year due to its zeal to overpitch the size of its revenue budget based on assumptions for political reasons, it has been revealed.
Initially, the PTI-led coalition government had pitched the size its ADP at Rs174.8 billion, hoping to get revenues from a number of sources based on assumptions.
This, officials attributed with the exercise at the time acknowledged, was done to inflate the size of the budget to get political mileage out of it.
“The chief minister was told time and again that the revenue targets were based on assumptions and were over-pitched and unrealistic,” a senior official working at the finance department at the time told Dawn.
[h=4]Official insists revenue targets were based on assumptions besides being over-pitched and unrealistic[/h]
“But he was adamant. He overruled us. He thought he could generate resources from here and there but it turned out to be a pipe-dream,” he said.
“The entire budget was based on “ifs’. This isn’t the way you make budgets,” he argued.
The over-ambitious projections in the budget, which some officials like to describe as a virtual budget, having been made in the cyber space, however, did not materialise. The receipts from General Sales Tax are falling short of the projected Rs14 billion. The Provincial Own Receipts pitched at a staggering Rs37.12 billion has also fallen behind.
These receipts included the receipts from dry windfall of forests and penalty recovered from permission to sell illegally-cut timber and the outsourcing of development of a model city in Peshawar. Not a single penny came through from the proposed two measures.
A minister said the decision to grant approval for imposition of penalty and taxes on windfall was okayed at a cabinet on Friday - a year after its inclusion in the budget 2015-16 – for implementation in the upcoming budget for 2016-17.
Receipts from federal government on account of net profit from hydel generation and arrears of net profit from hydel generation pitched at Rs51.87 billion also did not materialise.
“There was never a hope that the federal government would honour its commitment. We knew it but the chief minister didn’t,” the official said.
If this was not enough, the government took yet another controversial decision of blowing away Rs15 billion of the total Rs27.56 billion of the Hydel Development Fund, releasing later it could not do so. “It was a bad decision,” the official said.
“The government realised that for it to utilise the funds for the ADP meant for development of hydel generation in KP, it would have to amend the law. Thank God it did not happen,” he said.
All this added to financial woes of the KP government, bringing tremendous strain on its resources and as a result affected its ADP, the official said.
“Had we not have a significant cushion in the salary budget, our ADP would have been zero,” another official involved with the budget-making process for 2015-16 said.
“The size of the salary budget was over-pitched to provide for this kind of a cushion,” the official said.
“We knew it was coming,” he added, referring to KP’s impending financial woes.
“Now see what the results are,” the official continued. First, the ADP was cut down and revised downward from Rs174.88 billion to Rs142 billion by introducing a 20 per cent reduction in its size.
And when it didn’t work, the ADP was further slashed to Rs118 billion with the total reduction in its size coming to Rs56.8 billion, he added.
“A lot of the ongoing schemes have had to be dropped to make fiscal room.
“This wasn’t a prudent financial management plan. It was politics, pure and simple,” he said.
These officials say even in terms of utilisation of funds, while the government on Thursday claimed to have utilised 70 per cent of its resources, but if seen in the light of the actual size of the ADP, the utilisation comes down to just 42 per cent.
Officials say there has been a lot of debate at the highest level of the PTI leadership which, realising the mistakes of the past three years, now want to focus on KP’s development strategy in the last two years of the party government’s term in office.
Published in Dawn, May 21st, 2016
PESHAWAR: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has had to twice cut down its Annual Development Programme during the current financial year due to its zeal to overpitch the size of its revenue budget based on assumptions for political reasons, it has been revealed.
Initially, the PTI-led coalition government had pitched the size its ADP at Rs174.8 billion, hoping to get revenues from a number of sources based on assumptions.
This, officials attributed with the exercise at the time acknowledged, was done to inflate the size of the budget to get political mileage out of it.
“The chief minister was told time and again that the revenue targets were based on assumptions and were over-pitched and unrealistic,” a senior official working at the finance department at the time told Dawn.
[h=4]Official insists revenue targets were based on assumptions besides being over-pitched and unrealistic[/h]
“But he was adamant. He overruled us. He thought he could generate resources from here and there but it turned out to be a pipe-dream,” he said.
“The entire budget was based on “ifs’. This isn’t the way you make budgets,” he argued.
The over-ambitious projections in the budget, which some officials like to describe as a virtual budget, having been made in the cyber space, however, did not materialise. The receipts from General Sales Tax are falling short of the projected Rs14 billion. The Provincial Own Receipts pitched at a staggering Rs37.12 billion has also fallen behind.
These receipts included the receipts from dry windfall of forests and penalty recovered from permission to sell illegally-cut timber and the outsourcing of development of a model city in Peshawar. Not a single penny came through from the proposed two measures.
A minister said the decision to grant approval for imposition of penalty and taxes on windfall was okayed at a cabinet on Friday - a year after its inclusion in the budget 2015-16 – for implementation in the upcoming budget for 2016-17.
Receipts from federal government on account of net profit from hydel generation and arrears of net profit from hydel generation pitched at Rs51.87 billion also did not materialise.
“There was never a hope that the federal government would honour its commitment. We knew it but the chief minister didn’t,” the official said.
If this was not enough, the government took yet another controversial decision of blowing away Rs15 billion of the total Rs27.56 billion of the Hydel Development Fund, releasing later it could not do so. “It was a bad decision,” the official said.
“The government realised that for it to utilise the funds for the ADP meant for development of hydel generation in KP, it would have to amend the law. Thank God it did not happen,” he said.
All this added to financial woes of the KP government, bringing tremendous strain on its resources and as a result affected its ADP, the official said.
“Had we not have a significant cushion in the salary budget, our ADP would have been zero,” another official involved with the budget-making process for 2015-16 said.
“The size of the salary budget was over-pitched to provide for this kind of a cushion,” the official said.
“We knew it was coming,” he added, referring to KP’s impending financial woes.
“Now see what the results are,” the official continued. First, the ADP was cut down and revised downward from Rs174.88 billion to Rs142 billion by introducing a 20 per cent reduction in its size.
And when it didn’t work, the ADP was further slashed to Rs118 billion with the total reduction in its size coming to Rs56.8 billion, he added.
“A lot of the ongoing schemes have had to be dropped to make fiscal room.
“This wasn’t a prudent financial management plan. It was politics, pure and simple,” he said.
These officials say even in terms of utilisation of funds, while the government on Thursday claimed to have utilised 70 per cent of its resources, but if seen in the light of the actual size of the ADP, the utilisation comes down to just 42 per cent.
Officials say there has been a lot of debate at the highest level of the PTI leadership which, realising the mistakes of the past three years, now want to focus on KP’s development strategy in the last two years of the party government’s term in office.
Published in Dawn, May 21st, 2016
[h=1]KP govt delays amendment to KPEC law
[/h] PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government on Friday delayed the passage of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Ehtesab Commission (Amendment) Bill, 2016, in the provincial assembly by requesting the chair to refer it to the house’s committee on law for consideration though no member demanded it.
The chair, Deputy Speaker Dr Mehr Taj Roghani, accepted the request.
As the KPEC amendment bill was on the agenda, lawmakers believed it would be passed by the house.
The bill was tabled in the house on May 6.
Law minister Imtiaz Shahid presented the bill for the house’s deliberation after the chair, Deputy Speaker Dr Mehr Taj Roghani, asked him to do so on behalf of the chief minister.
To the surprise of lawmakers both from the treasury and the opposition, the minister soon after presenting the bill requested the chair to refer it to the house’s committee on law to consult the opposition.
Officials of the assembly secretariat said usually, the house business was referred to the relevant standing committees either for detailed discussion or when members asked for it to talk about some point.
They however said it was unprecedented that the law minister sought the referring of the bill to the committee without the demand of any lawmaker.
“The lawmakers from the opposition often complain about the passage of laws in haste and without their consultation, so this bill may be referred to the committee to take them on board regarding the proposed amendments,” the law minister said.
He said it was necessary to refer the bill to the house committee for improvement.
The bill was referred to the standing committee of the house when the chair put it to vote.
Interestingly, only one lawmaker, Saleem Khan of the PPP, had proposed a single amendment to Clause 17 of the bill, which shows the disinterest of the opposition in legislation, one of the treasury members told Dawn.
If the opposition had any interest in the bill, they would have proposed many amendments, he said.
The present bill is drafted in the light of a report submitted by a committee headed by noted lawyer Hamid Khan.
Chief of the ruling PTI Imran Khan had referred the matter to a party committee for proposing amendments to the law.
The committee was formed following promulgation of a controversial ordinance by the provincial government on Feb 9, through which drastic amendments were made in the KPEC Act, which prompted the then director general, retired Lt-Gen Hamid Khan, to resign.
Through the said ordinance, powers of the five-member Ehtesab Commission were increased specially in the filling of references, arrest of suspects and start of investigation and inquiries.
However, the KP governor withdrew that ordinance on May 2 and thus, restoring the KPEC Act in its previous form.
Earlier, speaking on a point of order, ANP parliamentary secretary Sardar Hussain Babak said the provincial government has been facing worst kind of administrative problems as the government employees and people could be seen protesting every day.
“Over 700 government officers of the Provincial Management Service have been on a pen-down strike for many days and thus, bringing the government’s affairs to a standstill,” he said.
The PMS officers have been demanding the removal of the chief secretary over discrimination against them.
Babak said doctors, teachers and nazims and naib-nazims, too, were protesting the policies of the provincial government.
He also criticised the government for billions of rupees worth of curtailment in the devolved funds allocated for developmental activities in districts.
The ANP leader said there was a tussle among the director of the Anti-Corruption Establishment and chief secretary leading to the removal of the former, who had launched probe into the Billion Tree Tsunami afforestation project.
He said in the past, such incidents were not seen in the administrative affairs of the province.
Babak complained the government had yet to inform the house about the report of inquiry into the Bank of Khyber managing director’s allegation against finance minister Muzaffar Said.
Social welfare minister Aneesa Zaib Tahirkheli tabled the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Child Protection and Welfare (Amendment) Ordinance, 2016.
The session was adjourned until next Monday.
Published in Dawn, May 21st, 2016
http://www.dawn.com/news/1259719/kp-govt-delays-amendment-to-kpec-law
[h=1]Over 40 suspects arrested in Nowshera
[/h] NOWSHERA: Security forces on Friday arrested 43 suspects during a search and strike operation in the areas along the border with the Kohat’s Frontier Region here.
DPO Wahid Mehmood said the operation was launched under the National Action Plan to tighten noose around militants and anti-social elements. The security forces conducted door-to-door search operation in different villages of Pabbi, including Jaroba, Spin Khak, Mera and Jalozai.
Personnel of police, elite force, Pak Army and bomb disposal squad took part in the operation.
All the entry and exit points of the areas were blocked before launching the action. The security forces also recovered three Kalashnikovs, one hand grenade, eight pistols, three rifles, one bulletproof jacket and thousands of cartridges from the arrested persons. They were shifted to undisclosed location for interrogation.
Published in Dawn, May 21st, 2016
http://www.dawn.com/news/1259714/over-40-suspects-arrested-in-nowshera
[h=1]Crackdown on occupants of schools’ land ordered
[/h]MANSEHRA: Deputy commissioner of Mansehra Iqbal Hussain has asked the assistant commissioners of Balakot, Oghi and Mansehra to reclaim the land of government schools in their respective tehsils from illegal occupants.
In a letter sent to the ACs separately, the deputy commissioner said as the land of several schools was illegally occupied, it should immediately be retrieved from the possession of the land grabbers for use by the respective educational institutions.
“Initially, the land of seven schools occupied by land grabbers will be retrieved and if the need arises, the scope of the operation will be widened,” Mansehra AC Naveed Ahmad told reporters here on Friday.
The tehsil administrations will use the police for the successful execution of the crackdown on illegal occupants of the schools’ land.
Among the schools, whose land is illegally occupied, are Government Primary School Shania Dodial, Government Primary School Munchor, Government Girls Primary School Gare Kuwai, Government Primary School Moree Sorial, and three girls primary schools in Kaghan and Oghi.
An official in the know said the education department had sought the help of the district administration for the action.
THREE DIE: Three people lost life in two incidents here on Friday.
Two people were killed after their motorcycles collided head-on in Khaki area.
One motorcycle was bound for Oghi from Mansehra, while the other came in from the opposite side.
Speeding is considered to be the reason for accident.
Riders of both the motorcycles including Mohammad Farhan and Abbas Khan suffered critical injuries and died on the way to the hospital.
The Khaki police registered an FIR and began investigation into the accident.
In another incident, a four-year-old boy was drowned in a stream of Dodial area here on Friday.
The people retrieved the body from the stream and handed it over to the respective family.
http://www.dawn.com/news/1259712/crackdown-on-occupants-of-schools-land-ordered
[h=1]Former anti-corruption director takes row with CS to court
[/h] PESHAWAR: The ongoing tussle between Khyber Pakhtunkhwa chief secretary, Amjid Ali Khan, and recently transferred director of anti-corruption establishment (ACE) Ziaullah Khan Toru has reached Peshawar High Court as the latter has challenged his transfer order.
Mr Toru stated in his petition that his transfer was based on mala fide intention as he had started an inquiry against the brother of chief secretary in the Billion Tree Tsunami Project.
A bench comprising PHC Chief Justice Mazhar Alam Miankhel and Justice Mohammad Daud Khan took up the petition for preliminary hearing and issued notices to the respondents including the chief secretary and the secretary establishment department.
The bench fixed May 26 for next hearing of the petition and a connected application of the petitioner seeking suspension of his transfer order till final disposal of his petition.
[h=4]Challenges transfer order; accuses chief secy of mala fide intention[/h]
Due to strike of lawyers, petitioner Ziaullah Toru appeared in person and stated that he revamped ACE and recovered huge amount of looted money to the tune of Rs1.662 billion from government officials and deposited it in the provincial exchequer.
He contended that chief secretary issued a notification on May 2 regarding postings and transfers of government officials wherein he was also transferred and posted as deputy director at Provincial Services Academy. He added that his transfer order was based on mala fide intentions.
Advocate General Abdul Lateef Yousafzai also turned up in the case for the provincial government.
Respondents in the petition are: provincial government through chief secretary, secretary establishment department and deputy commissioner Peshawar, who was assigned acting charge of director ACE.
The petitioner stated that he was employee of National Accountability Bureau (NAB) and his services were requisitioned from NAB headquarters on deputation basis for posting as ACE director through a letter on June 27, 2013. He said that through a notification on May 19, 2014, he was posted as ACE director and he assumed charge of the said post on May 21, 2013.
The petitioner stated that all of a sudden on May 2, 2015, through a notification issued by the chief secretary, he was transferred from the said post.
He contended that the impugned notification was illegal, therefore, it may be set aside. He contended that after assumption of charge as director he had taken drastic steps for reformation and restructuring of ACE and on April 1, 2016, he had requested the competent authority to absorb his services in ACE on permanent basis.
The petitioner claimed that on a written complaint of the special assistant to chief minister on environment, he initiated an inquiry into Billion Tree Tsunami Project against different persons including brother of the chief secretary. He added that he had also launched another inquiry against a close relative of the chief secretary on complaint of some residents of Baghdada village in Mardan.
The petitioner alleged that the chief secretary took it to his heart and in order to settle his personal vendetta, he issued the impugned notification of his transfer.
Published in Dawn, May 20th, 2016
http://www.dawn.com/news/1259554/former-anti-corruption-director-takes-row-with-cs-to-court
[h=1]Over 60 per cent ADP funds utilised so far
[/h]PESHAWAR: The planning and development department on Thursday informed the chief minister that 66 per cent of the current Annual Development Programme’s funds had been used so far.
A statement issued here said that during the third quarter review meeting at the Civil Secretariat, additional chief secretary Azam Khan highlighted the overall status of the current ADP 2015-16, while the planning and development secretary briefed participants about the total scope, sector wise allocation and expenditure of the current ADP.
The meeting was informed that the size of the ADP had reduced from Rs142 billion to Rs118 billion due to non-reception of the provincial share of net hydel project from the federal government.
Out of Rs118 billion, Rs111 billion has been released, while utilisation of the released amount of money is 66 per cent, the meeting was told.
Reviewing the progress of the foreign-funded projects, the meeting was informed that of the Rs32,884 billion funds, Rs13.036 had been released.
The expenditure is Rs10.306 billion, while utilisation is 70 per cent of the released figure assistance that is higher than the previous year’s.
The meeting decided to send the cases of the departments failing to submit monitoring and review report ‘well and in time’ for probe to the accountability bodies.
It also issued directions for all departments to surrender their un-utilised funds if any until May 25 to divert it to projects work on which is progressing fast.
It was assured that 100 per cent of the funds released would be utilised.
On the occasion, the chief minister directed all departments to get approved the schemes to be reflected in the next ADP until July 30 to ensure its timely implementation and completion within due time.
He also ordered end to the consultation services acquired for designs of buildings to control expenditure.
Mr. Khattak directed heads of the departments to identify spare land possessed by them to utilise it for income generation activities.
He said the revenue generated from such lands would be incurred on the development and welfare of the respective departments.
The chief minister also ordered the industries secretary to ensure proper legislation to convert certain residential areas into commercial spots in the city.
He ordered for starting IMU system in higher education, technical institutions and schools run by workers welfare board to ensure staff punctuality there.
Published in Dawn, May 20th, 201
[/h] PESHAWAR: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has had to twice cut down its Annual Development Programme during the current financial year due to its zeal to overpitch the size of its revenue budget based on assumptions for political reasons, it has been revealed.
Initially, the PTI-led coalition government had pitched the size its ADP at Rs174.8 billion, hoping to get revenues from a number of sources based on assumptions.
This, officials attributed with the exercise at the time acknowledged, was done to inflate the size of the budget to get political mileage out of it.
“The chief minister was told time and again that the revenue targets were based on assumptions and were over-pitched and unrealistic,” a senior official working at the finance department at the time told Dawn.
[h=4]Official insists revenue targets were based on assumptions besides being over-pitched and unrealistic[/h]
“But he was adamant. He overruled us. He thought he could generate resources from here and there but it turned out to be a pipe-dream,” he said.
“The entire budget was based on “ifs’. This isn’t the way you make budgets,” he argued.
The over-ambitious projections in the budget, which some officials like to describe as a virtual budget, having been made in the cyber space, however, did not materialise. The receipts from General Sales Tax are falling short of the projected Rs14 billion. The Provincial Own Receipts pitched at a staggering Rs37.12 billion has also fallen behind.
These receipts included the receipts from dry windfall of forests and penalty recovered from permission to sell illegally-cut timber and the outsourcing of development of a model city in Peshawar. Not a single penny came through from the proposed two measures.
A minister said the decision to grant approval for imposition of penalty and taxes on windfall was okayed at a cabinet on Friday - a year after its inclusion in the budget 2015-16 – for implementation in the upcoming budget for 2016-17.
Receipts from federal government on account of net profit from hydel generation and arrears of net profit from hydel generation pitched at Rs51.87 billion also did not materialise.
“There was never a hope that the federal government would honour its commitment. We knew it but the chief minister didn’t,” the official said.
If this was not enough, the government took yet another controversial decision of blowing away Rs15 billion of the total Rs27.56 billion of the Hydel Development Fund, releasing later it could not do so. “It was a bad decision,” the official said.
“The government realised that for it to utilise the funds for the ADP meant for development of hydel generation in KP, it would have to amend the law. Thank God it did not happen,” he said.
All this added to financial woes of the KP government, bringing tremendous strain on its resources and as a result affected its ADP, the official said.
“Had we not have a significant cushion in the salary budget, our ADP would have been zero,” another official involved with the budget-making process for 2015-16 said.
“The size of the salary budget was over-pitched to provide for this kind of a cushion,” the official said.
“We knew it was coming,” he added, referring to KP’s impending financial woes.
“Now see what the results are,” the official continued. First, the ADP was cut down and revised downward from Rs174.88 billion to Rs142 billion by introducing a 20 per cent reduction in its size.
And when it didn’t work, the ADP was further slashed to Rs118 billion with the total reduction in its size coming to Rs56.8 billion, he added.
“A lot of the ongoing schemes have had to be dropped to make fiscal room.
“This wasn’t a prudent financial management plan. It was politics, pure and simple,” he said.
These officials say even in terms of utilisation of funds, while the government on Thursday claimed to have utilised 70 per cent of its resources, but if seen in the light of the actual size of the ADP, the utilisation comes down to just 42 per cent.
Officials say there has been a lot of debate at the highest level of the PTI leadership which, realising the mistakes of the past three years, now want to focus on KP’s development strategy in the last two years of the party government’s term in office.
Published in Dawn, May 21st, 2016
PESHAWAR: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has had to twice cut down its Annual Development Programme during the current financial year due to its zeal to overpitch the size of its revenue budget based on assumptions for political reasons, it has been revealed.
Initially, the PTI-led coalition government had pitched the size its ADP at Rs174.8 billion, hoping to get revenues from a number of sources based on assumptions.
This, officials attributed with the exercise at the time acknowledged, was done to inflate the size of the budget to get political mileage out of it.
“The chief minister was told time and again that the revenue targets were based on assumptions and were over-pitched and unrealistic,” a senior official working at the finance department at the time told Dawn.
[h=4]Official insists revenue targets were based on assumptions besides being over-pitched and unrealistic[/h]
“But he was adamant. He overruled us. He thought he could generate resources from here and there but it turned out to be a pipe-dream,” he said.
“The entire budget was based on “ifs’. This isn’t the way you make budgets,” he argued.
The over-ambitious projections in the budget, which some officials like to describe as a virtual budget, having been made in the cyber space, however, did not materialise. The receipts from General Sales Tax are falling short of the projected Rs14 billion. The Provincial Own Receipts pitched at a staggering Rs37.12 billion has also fallen behind.
These receipts included the receipts from dry windfall of forests and penalty recovered from permission to sell illegally-cut timber and the outsourcing of development of a model city in Peshawar. Not a single penny came through from the proposed two measures.
A minister said the decision to grant approval for imposition of penalty and taxes on windfall was okayed at a cabinet on Friday - a year after its inclusion in the budget 2015-16 – for implementation in the upcoming budget for 2016-17.
Receipts from federal government on account of net profit from hydel generation and arrears of net profit from hydel generation pitched at Rs51.87 billion also did not materialise.
“There was never a hope that the federal government would honour its commitment. We knew it but the chief minister didn’t,” the official said.
If this was not enough, the government took yet another controversial decision of blowing away Rs15 billion of the total Rs27.56 billion of the Hydel Development Fund, releasing later it could not do so. “It was a bad decision,” the official said.
“The government realised that for it to utilise the funds for the ADP meant for development of hydel generation in KP, it would have to amend the law. Thank God it did not happen,” he said.
All this added to financial woes of the KP government, bringing tremendous strain on its resources and as a result affected its ADP, the official said.
“Had we not have a significant cushion in the salary budget, our ADP would have been zero,” another official involved with the budget-making process for 2015-16 said.
“The size of the salary budget was over-pitched to provide for this kind of a cushion,” the official said.
“We knew it was coming,” he added, referring to KP’s impending financial woes.
“Now see what the results are,” the official continued. First, the ADP was cut down and revised downward from Rs174.88 billion to Rs142 billion by introducing a 20 per cent reduction in its size.
And when it didn’t work, the ADP was further slashed to Rs118 billion with the total reduction in its size coming to Rs56.8 billion, he added.
“A lot of the ongoing schemes have had to be dropped to make fiscal room.
“This wasn’t a prudent financial management plan. It was politics, pure and simple,” he said.
These officials say even in terms of utilisation of funds, while the government on Thursday claimed to have utilised 70 per cent of its resources, but if seen in the light of the actual size of the ADP, the utilisation comes down to just 42 per cent.
Officials say there has been a lot of debate at the highest level of the PTI leadership which, realising the mistakes of the past three years, now want to focus on KP’s development strategy in the last two years of the party government’s term in office.
Published in Dawn, May 21st, 2016
[h=1]KP govt delays amendment to KPEC law
[/h] PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government on Friday delayed the passage of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Ehtesab Commission (Amendment) Bill, 2016, in the provincial assembly by requesting the chair to refer it to the house’s committee on law for consideration though no member demanded it.
The chair, Deputy Speaker Dr Mehr Taj Roghani, accepted the request.
As the KPEC amendment bill was on the agenda, lawmakers believed it would be passed by the house.
The bill was tabled in the house on May 6.
Law minister Imtiaz Shahid presented the bill for the house’s deliberation after the chair, Deputy Speaker Dr Mehr Taj Roghani, asked him to do so on behalf of the chief minister.
To the surprise of lawmakers both from the treasury and the opposition, the minister soon after presenting the bill requested the chair to refer it to the house’s committee on law to consult the opposition.
Officials of the assembly secretariat said usually, the house business was referred to the relevant standing committees either for detailed discussion or when members asked for it to talk about some point.
They however said it was unprecedented that the law minister sought the referring of the bill to the committee without the demand of any lawmaker.
“The lawmakers from the opposition often complain about the passage of laws in haste and without their consultation, so this bill may be referred to the committee to take them on board regarding the proposed amendments,” the law minister said.
He said it was necessary to refer the bill to the house committee for improvement.
The bill was referred to the standing committee of the house when the chair put it to vote.
Interestingly, only one lawmaker, Saleem Khan of the PPP, had proposed a single amendment to Clause 17 of the bill, which shows the disinterest of the opposition in legislation, one of the treasury members told Dawn.
If the opposition had any interest in the bill, they would have proposed many amendments, he said.
The present bill is drafted in the light of a report submitted by a committee headed by noted lawyer Hamid Khan.
Chief of the ruling PTI Imran Khan had referred the matter to a party committee for proposing amendments to the law.
The committee was formed following promulgation of a controversial ordinance by the provincial government on Feb 9, through which drastic amendments were made in the KPEC Act, which prompted the then director general, retired Lt-Gen Hamid Khan, to resign.
Through the said ordinance, powers of the five-member Ehtesab Commission were increased specially in the filling of references, arrest of suspects and start of investigation and inquiries.
However, the KP governor withdrew that ordinance on May 2 and thus, restoring the KPEC Act in its previous form.
Earlier, speaking on a point of order, ANP parliamentary secretary Sardar Hussain Babak said the provincial government has been facing worst kind of administrative problems as the government employees and people could be seen protesting every day.
“Over 700 government officers of the Provincial Management Service have been on a pen-down strike for many days and thus, bringing the government’s affairs to a standstill,” he said.
The PMS officers have been demanding the removal of the chief secretary over discrimination against them.
Babak said doctors, teachers and nazims and naib-nazims, too, were protesting the policies of the provincial government.
He also criticised the government for billions of rupees worth of curtailment in the devolved funds allocated for developmental activities in districts.
The ANP leader said there was a tussle among the director of the Anti-Corruption Establishment and chief secretary leading to the removal of the former, who had launched probe into the Billion Tree Tsunami afforestation project.
He said in the past, such incidents were not seen in the administrative affairs of the province.
Babak complained the government had yet to inform the house about the report of inquiry into the Bank of Khyber managing director’s allegation against finance minister Muzaffar Said.
Social welfare minister Aneesa Zaib Tahirkheli tabled the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Child Protection and Welfare (Amendment) Ordinance, 2016.
The session was adjourned until next Monday.
Published in Dawn, May 21st, 2016
http://www.dawn.com/news/1259719/kp-govt-delays-amendment-to-kpec-law
[h=1]Over 40 suspects arrested in Nowshera
[/h] NOWSHERA: Security forces on Friday arrested 43 suspects during a search and strike operation in the areas along the border with the Kohat’s Frontier Region here.
DPO Wahid Mehmood said the operation was launched under the National Action Plan to tighten noose around militants and anti-social elements. The security forces conducted door-to-door search operation in different villages of Pabbi, including Jaroba, Spin Khak, Mera and Jalozai.
Personnel of police, elite force, Pak Army and bomb disposal squad took part in the operation.
All the entry and exit points of the areas were blocked before launching the action. The security forces also recovered three Kalashnikovs, one hand grenade, eight pistols, three rifles, one bulletproof jacket and thousands of cartridges from the arrested persons. They were shifted to undisclosed location for interrogation.
Published in Dawn, May 21st, 2016
http://www.dawn.com/news/1259714/over-40-suspects-arrested-in-nowshera
[h=1]Crackdown on occupants of schools’ land ordered
[/h]MANSEHRA: Deputy commissioner of Mansehra Iqbal Hussain has asked the assistant commissioners of Balakot, Oghi and Mansehra to reclaim the land of government schools in their respective tehsils from illegal occupants.
In a letter sent to the ACs separately, the deputy commissioner said as the land of several schools was illegally occupied, it should immediately be retrieved from the possession of the land grabbers for use by the respective educational institutions.
“Initially, the land of seven schools occupied by land grabbers will be retrieved and if the need arises, the scope of the operation will be widened,” Mansehra AC Naveed Ahmad told reporters here on Friday.
The tehsil administrations will use the police for the successful execution of the crackdown on illegal occupants of the schools’ land.
Among the schools, whose land is illegally occupied, are Government Primary School Shania Dodial, Government Primary School Munchor, Government Girls Primary School Gare Kuwai, Government Primary School Moree Sorial, and three girls primary schools in Kaghan and Oghi.
An official in the know said the education department had sought the help of the district administration for the action.
THREE DIE: Three people lost life in two incidents here on Friday.
Two people were killed after their motorcycles collided head-on in Khaki area.
One motorcycle was bound for Oghi from Mansehra, while the other came in from the opposite side.
Speeding is considered to be the reason for accident.
Riders of both the motorcycles including Mohammad Farhan and Abbas Khan suffered critical injuries and died on the way to the hospital.
The Khaki police registered an FIR and began investigation into the accident.
In another incident, a four-year-old boy was drowned in a stream of Dodial area here on Friday.
The people retrieved the body from the stream and handed it over to the respective family.
http://www.dawn.com/news/1259712/crackdown-on-occupants-of-schools-land-ordered
[h=1]Former anti-corruption director takes row with CS to court
[/h] PESHAWAR: The ongoing tussle between Khyber Pakhtunkhwa chief secretary, Amjid Ali Khan, and recently transferred director of anti-corruption establishment (ACE) Ziaullah Khan Toru has reached Peshawar High Court as the latter has challenged his transfer order.
Mr Toru stated in his petition that his transfer was based on mala fide intention as he had started an inquiry against the brother of chief secretary in the Billion Tree Tsunami Project.
A bench comprising PHC Chief Justice Mazhar Alam Miankhel and Justice Mohammad Daud Khan took up the petition for preliminary hearing and issued notices to the respondents including the chief secretary and the secretary establishment department.
The bench fixed May 26 for next hearing of the petition and a connected application of the petitioner seeking suspension of his transfer order till final disposal of his petition.
[h=4]Challenges transfer order; accuses chief secy of mala fide intention[/h]
Due to strike of lawyers, petitioner Ziaullah Toru appeared in person and stated that he revamped ACE and recovered huge amount of looted money to the tune of Rs1.662 billion from government officials and deposited it in the provincial exchequer.
He contended that chief secretary issued a notification on May 2 regarding postings and transfers of government officials wherein he was also transferred and posted as deputy director at Provincial Services Academy. He added that his transfer order was based on mala fide intentions.
Advocate General Abdul Lateef Yousafzai also turned up in the case for the provincial government.
Respondents in the petition are: provincial government through chief secretary, secretary establishment department and deputy commissioner Peshawar, who was assigned acting charge of director ACE.
The petitioner stated that he was employee of National Accountability Bureau (NAB) and his services were requisitioned from NAB headquarters on deputation basis for posting as ACE director through a letter on June 27, 2013. He said that through a notification on May 19, 2014, he was posted as ACE director and he assumed charge of the said post on May 21, 2013.
The petitioner stated that all of a sudden on May 2, 2015, through a notification issued by the chief secretary, he was transferred from the said post.
He contended that the impugned notification was illegal, therefore, it may be set aside. He contended that after assumption of charge as director he had taken drastic steps for reformation and restructuring of ACE and on April 1, 2016, he had requested the competent authority to absorb his services in ACE on permanent basis.
The petitioner claimed that on a written complaint of the special assistant to chief minister on environment, he initiated an inquiry into Billion Tree Tsunami Project against different persons including brother of the chief secretary. He added that he had also launched another inquiry against a close relative of the chief secretary on complaint of some residents of Baghdada village in Mardan.
The petitioner alleged that the chief secretary took it to his heart and in order to settle his personal vendetta, he issued the impugned notification of his transfer.
Published in Dawn, May 20th, 2016
http://www.dawn.com/news/1259554/former-anti-corruption-director-takes-row-with-cs-to-court
[h=1]Over 60 per cent ADP funds utilised so far
[/h]PESHAWAR: The planning and development department on Thursday informed the chief minister that 66 per cent of the current Annual Development Programme’s funds had been used so far.
A statement issued here said that during the third quarter review meeting at the Civil Secretariat, additional chief secretary Azam Khan highlighted the overall status of the current ADP 2015-16, while the planning and development secretary briefed participants about the total scope, sector wise allocation and expenditure of the current ADP.
The meeting was informed that the size of the ADP had reduced from Rs142 billion to Rs118 billion due to non-reception of the provincial share of net hydel project from the federal government.
Out of Rs118 billion, Rs111 billion has been released, while utilisation of the released amount of money is 66 per cent, the meeting was told.
Reviewing the progress of the foreign-funded projects, the meeting was informed that of the Rs32,884 billion funds, Rs13.036 had been released.
The expenditure is Rs10.306 billion, while utilisation is 70 per cent of the released figure assistance that is higher than the previous year’s.
The meeting decided to send the cases of the departments failing to submit monitoring and review report ‘well and in time’ for probe to the accountability bodies.
It also issued directions for all departments to surrender their un-utilised funds if any until May 25 to divert it to projects work on which is progressing fast.
It was assured that 100 per cent of the funds released would be utilised.
On the occasion, the chief minister directed all departments to get approved the schemes to be reflected in the next ADP until July 30 to ensure its timely implementation and completion within due time.
He also ordered end to the consultation services acquired for designs of buildings to control expenditure.
Mr. Khattak directed heads of the departments to identify spare land possessed by them to utilise it for income generation activities.
He said the revenue generated from such lands would be incurred on the development and welfare of the respective departments.
The chief minister also ordered the industries secretary to ensure proper legislation to convert certain residential areas into commercial spots in the city.
He ordered for starting IMU system in higher education, technical institutions and schools run by workers welfare board to ensure staff punctuality there.
Published in Dawn, May 20th, 201
Syed Haider Imam
Chief Minister (5k+ posts)
May 23 2016
Syed Haider Imam
Chief Minister (5k+ posts)
MAY 24 2016
Syed Haider Imam
Chief Minister (5k+ posts)
MAY 25 2016
Syed Haider Imam
Chief Minister (5k+ posts)
MAY 26 2016
Syed Haider Imam
Chief Minister (5k+ posts)
[h=1]30 officers held responsible for lapses in schemes
[/h] PESHAWAR: About 30 officers of the Provincial Earthquake Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Authority (Perra) and Nespak have been held responsible for serious irregularities and lapses in different schemes being carried out in the earthquake-affected districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
This was revealed at the 21st Perra provincial steering committee’s meeting, which was held with the additional chief secretary, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Mohammad Azam Khan in the chair.
A statement issued here said that that the committee in its previous meeting had tasked a team under the DG monitoring and evaluation to evaluate 140 schemes proposed for revision and submit its recommendations concerning abnormal delays and creating financial liabilities for the government.
The inquiry team in its findings pointed out irregularities in planning and designing of the schemes, revealing that the projects awarded in 2007-08 could have been completed within stipulated time as the flow of funds was regular and mobilisation advance paid to the contractors.
The inquiry team in its report termed the escalation paid in such projects, without the approval of the competent authority, as irregular and illegal and suggested stern action against officials involved in irregularities.
The steering committee was informed that during monitoring and evaluation of equipment and weapons provided to the Hazara police under Perra, the police did not cooperate to ascertain the quality of 213 AK-47 rifles. The committee chairman directed the officials concerned to approach the IG in this matter and to complete the task in 30 days.
Published in Dawn, May 26th, 2016
http://www.dawn.com/news/1260780/30-officers-held-responsible-for-lapses-in-schemes
[h=1]Nazims to move high court against changes to LG law
[/h] MANSEHRA: The district nazims of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa will challenge the amendments to the Local Government Act 2013 and the subsequent rules of business for local bodies in the Peshawar High Court.
This was claimed by Mansehra district nazim Sardar Said Ghulam during a news conference here on Wednesday.
“During a recent meeting, we, the district nazims from across the province, decided to move the high court to seek the annulment of the amendments to the LG Act 2013 and business rules introduced by the provincial government in 2015,” Mansehra district nazim Sardar Said Ghulam told reporters here.
Flanked by deputy opposition leader in the district council Malik Naveed, the nazim said nazims of the province were united to thwart the provincial government’s policies against the LG system, which was introduced through the elections held on the orders of the Supreme Court.
[h=4]Also threaten agitation over denial of rights[/h]
He said the government had never accepted local bodies and therefore, it had been creating hurdles to their smooth functioning.
Mr. Ghulam, who belongs to the PML-N, criticised both the federal and provincial governments for ignoring nazims during the visits of prime minster, governor and chief minister to their respective visits and warned such attitude won’t be tolerated.
“It is evident now that neither the federal nor provincial government is sincere about the LG system’s development. The nazims are disgraced during the visits of VVIPs,” he said.
The nazim said the PTI and PML-N governments had empowered bureaucracy to fail the elected LG members.
He said LG members across the province would observe a back day on the first anniversary of local bodies to protest the PTI government’s hostile policies.
On the occasion, deputy opposition leader in the district council Malik Naveed of the JUI-F complained that district governments in the province were denied development funds even a year after their elections.
“If the government doesn’t provide us with rights shown in the Local Government Act 2013, we will come onto the streets. We don’t want to be part of a disabled LG system,” he said.
FUNDS RELEASED: The district account office, Mansehra, formally gave the second tranche of developmental funds to the local government on Wednesday.
Manger of the National Bank of Pakistan’s Noguzi branch Mohammad Nadeem told reporters here that the district account office had transferred Rs180 million worth of second tranche of uplift funds to the central bank account of village and neighbourhood councils.
“We will now transfer that amount of money to the respective bank accounts of 194 village and neighbourhood councils in Mansehra in line with the instructions of the district account office,” he said.
Mr. Nadeem said the district account office had also transferred another amount of Rs60 million to those local bodies for payments of honorarium to nazims, naib nazim and councillors.
Safada village council nazim Basharat Ali said hundreds of micro-development schemes could be completed by the utilisation of Rs180 million funds and thus, increasing the people’s confidence in village and neighbourhood councils.
Published in Dawn, May 26th, 2016
http://www.dawn.com/news/1260772/nazims-to-move-high-court-against-changes-to-lg-law
[h=1]Rs340m approved for upgrading Swabi’s medical complex
[/h]SWABI: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government has allocated Rs340 million for upgradation of Bacha Khan Medical Complex in Shahmansoor area, says health minister Shahram Khan Tarakai.
He announced this while speaking at the inaugural ceremony of the complex’s upgradation here on Tuesday. MNA Usman Khan Tarakai, PTI leaders and workers and officials of health department and district administration were in attendance.
The minister said the project would be completed within a year to provide adequate health facilities to people, sparing them the trouble of taking their patients to Peshawar, Mardan and Islamabad hospitals.
The PTI-led provincial government has improved health facilities in the district, keeping pace with the increasing population, he said.
Another objective of the upgradation of the medical complex, he said was to give training opportunity to the students of Gajju Khan Medical College, where classes are likely to commence during the current year.
Meanwhile, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly Speaker Asad Qaisar said on Tuesday that classes in Gajju Khan Medical College would be started this year. He stated this while chairing a meeting on the affairs of the medical college.
Mr Qaisar said the government wanted to launch the medical college last year, but due to some difficulties it couldn’t be done. However, he said students would be offered admissions during the current year.
“Establishment of the medical college in Swabi is a big achievement of the PTI-led government,” he said.
http://www.dawn.com/news/1260441/rs340m-approved-for-upgrading-swabis-medical-complex
[h=1]Transvestites face humiliation, violence
[/h] PESHAWAR: Around 45 transvestites have met violent death during the last two years while others live to face insecurity and gender discrimination in accessing basic facilities in everyday life, says Farzana Jan, the president of Shemale Association of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Farzana Jan was sitting on bedside of Alisha, 25, who was shot eight times near her one-room rented residence at Iqbal Plaza near Parda Bagh, Faqirbabad locality on Sunday night by one of her disgruntled and violent customer. In her statement to the police, Alisha identified him as Fazl Gujjar, a resident of Bakhshoo Pull.
Alisha is the fifth reported case of violence against transvestites as earlier Adnan, Sameer (Chocolate), Komal and Ayesha were also targeted. Interestingly, all these transvestites are members of Trans Action Alliance, formed by civil society and transgender of the province to raise voice for their rights.
All kinds of attempts to kill, kidnap, harass, rape and humiliate transvestites have been made by different people, said to be ‘a group of blackmailers’, who extort money from them by intimidating and abusing them, rights activists and members of the alliance say.
“These attacks started when transgender, who had been long quiet and too timid to speak up for their rights, held protests for their rights. Some anti-social elements abuse them and extort money from them,” said Qamar Naseem, a member of the Transaction Alliance.
[h=4]Attendant of injured transgender narrates ordeal at hospital[/h]
The Transaction Alliance mostly comprising transvestites, who had recently held several protests against violence and demanded security, were shunned away by the chief minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to whom they wanted to present their demands.
Qamar Naseem says that security issue of transvestites is very serious as around 300 cases of violence against transgender were detected by Blue-Veins , the organisation he works for.
“The doctors kept asking the injured Alisha if she danced only and how much she charged whereas the blood laboratory guy asked them if their blood was HIV positive or not,” said Naseem, narrating the experience of taking an injured transgender to Lady reading Hospital, one of the oldest health facilities of the province.
Badly injured Alisha was admitted to Lady Reading Hospital where she was said to be in stable condition. However, Farzana was almost teary-eyed as she described how she had to run around looking for doctors and finding a suitable ward while people, mostly attendants with admitted patients, chased her and teased her instead of helping her in the hour of need.
The male and female wards were also reluctant to have the injured transgender so the attendants including Farzana and other transvestites had to admit Alisha to a private room in Bolton Block of LRH.
Farzana said that callous people, who were either patients or their attendants, were continuously ridiculing them and laughing at them when they were going through a tragic incident.
“These people don’t laugh at us when they book us for their shows and family functions but they laugh at us when we like any human being are going through some trouble,” she said. She added that she felt belittled and humiliated when instead of helping her injured friend people were laughing at them.
“They won’t let us treat our patients or even grieve for our dead at the hospital. I felt as if I am not a human being or even not from this world when I see such inhuman behaviour of so-called Muslim people,” said Farzana.
She said that gender discrimination in access to basic facilities like health, education, profession, security to life, property and living life like any other Pakistani reduced them just to performing arts like dance and singing.
“People don’t let a transgender rent a house or portion in any decent locality. The worst is when they get sick, injured or even killed the people won’t treat them at hospital like a human being,” she added.
There are around 48,000 to 55,000 transgender in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa while many still wait for their registration for national identity card.
Most of the Shemale Association members, who are more like a family of Farzana now, have been shunned by their own families. When they end up as performing artists, the customers also mistreat them and often their unjustified demands and infringement on freedom of a transgender end up in a violent encounter.
“Despite having been mistreated, raped, harassed and attacked in their own houses many of the transgender having witnessed the horror fail to speak up since they lack legal and social support,” says Qamar Naseem.
Published in Dawn, May 24th, 2016
http://www.dawn.com/news/1260313/transvestites-face-humiliation-violence
[h=1]Power plant inaugurated in Upper Dir
[/h] UPPER DIR: A hydropower house with the capacity of 75 kilowatt was inaugurated in Kumrat area of remote Kohistan valley in Upper Dir district which would provide electricity to over 2,000 people of the area.
The powerhouse was established by Sarhad Rural Support Programme with the collaboration of European Union.
A ceremony was organised at Kumrat valley to inaugurate the project. Operation Commander, Pakistan Army, Brig Rao Mohammad Aamir Yaseen was the chief guest on the occasion.
SRSP regional programme manager Noor Ajab and local elders were also present on the occasion.
Speaking on the occasion, Brig Yaseen said that establishment of the powerhouse was a great step, as people of Kumrat would get electricity without suspension. He said that Kumrat was one of the scenic tourist spots in Pakistan and tourism would get a boost when tourists would know about the availability of electricity in the area. He appreciated the role of SRSP in the development of Upper Dir.
Published in Dawn, May 24th, 2016
http://www.dawn.com/news/1260285/power-plant-inaugurated-in-upper-dir
[h=1]Over 50 schools in Charsadda without heads
[/h] CHARSADDA: Over 50 high and higher secondary schools in Charsadda district are said to have been running without principals, affecting their educational and administrative affairs.
The disclosure was made at a meeting of the school officers’ association chaired by its district president Haji Rahmuddin the other day. They demanded that the education department constitute a provincial selection board on a war footing to promote senior teachers to the post of principals.
They said the posts of principals in about 50 high and higher secondary schools for boys and girls in Agra, Hari Chand, Mandani, Shakar Dhand, Dargai, Bubak, Hasanzai, Tetara, Haleemzai Shabqadar, Matta Mughalkhel, Ghazgi and Zuhrab Gul Kalli had been lying vacant.
The association members said appointment of permanent principals was vital to improve education standard in these schools. They said on one hand the PTI-led provincial government was making tall claims of education emergency, while on the other, most schools in the province had no administrative heads.
The teachers through a unanimously passed resolution demanded of the chief minister and the education department to arrange provincial selection board to appoint competent senior teachers on merit on the posts of principals.
Published in Dawn, May 24th, 2016
CHARSADDA: Over 50 high and higher secondary schools in Charsadda district are said to have been running without principals, affecting their educational and administrative affairs.
The disclosure was made at a meeting of the school officers’ association chaired by its district president Haji Rahmuddin the other day. They demanded that the education department constitute a provincial selection board on a war footing to promote senior teachers to the post of principals.
They said the posts of principals in about 50 high and higher secondary schools for boys and girls in Agra, Hari Chand, Mandani, Shakar Dhand, Dargai, Bubak, Hasanzai, Tetara, Haleemzai Shabqadar, Matta Mughalkhel, Ghazgi and Zuhrab Gul Kalli had been lying vacant.
The association members said appointment of permanent principals was vital to improve education standard in these schools. They said on one hand the PTI-led provincial government was making tall claims of education emergency, while on the other, most schools in the province had no administrative heads.
The teachers through a unanimously passed resolution demanded of the chief minister and the education department to arrange provincial selection board to appoint competent senior teachers on merit on the posts of principals.
Published in Dawn, May 24th, 2016
[h=1]Imran vows to make KP model province
[/h] MINGORA: Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf chairman Imran Khan has said that they will make Khyber Pakhtunkhwa a model province of the country.
Addressing a public meeting at Grassy Ground here on Sunday, he said that 25 million children were out of schools in the country but prime minister had no concern for them.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Pervez Khattak, Mushtaq Ghani, MNAs and MPAs of PTI were also present on the occasion.
Mr Khan said that Prime Minister Mian Nawaz Sharif had been visiting different places in the country to announce projects since the issue of Panama Paper leaks surfaced.
“Wherever Mian Sahib visits, his speech starts with motorways. History shows that motorways cannot make nations. Being a prime minister he must construct schools for the out of school children if he wants real change in the country,” said Mr Khan.
The PTI chief said that Khyber Pakhtunkhwa was changing with the implementation of PTI policies as new schools and universities were being built in the province. “We will show to the whole Pakistan that Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is a model province,” he said.
Mr Khan said that prime minister was not sincere with the people of Swat as National Highway Authority didn’t reconstruct Kalam Road in three years. He said that PTI introduced reward and punishment system in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa police to make it the best one in the country. “Similarly, change is being made in the health and education departments. Soon the entire country will see a visible change as PTI is continuously working for the betterment of institutions,” he said.
“During the previous 30 years, Nawaz Sharif could not change a single institution in Punjab. He could not even make a single hospital of international standard. He goes abroad for treatment while I underwent medical treatment twice in Shaukat Khanam Memorial Hospital,” said the PTI chief.
He said that PTI policies were focused on the future of the country, targeting youth. “We will complete plantation of one billion trees till 2018. It will tackle the issue of global warming,” he added.
Mr Khan said that PTI introduced local government system to devolve powers. “Initially we have some problems but we are working o those. Soon people will see the best local government system in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa,” he said, adding that 30 per cent of development funds would be allocated to village councils.
The PTI chief said that in the past Khyber Pakhtunkhwa topped the list of corruption but then it became the less corrupt province of the country.
He said that PTI would soon launch a campaign of accountability of the corrupt leadership, which looted the country during the last three decades. “PTI would go to any extent against corruption and Panama leaks to bring back the $200 billion from Swiss banks and Rs700 billion from Dubai,” he vowed.
Mr Khan said that neither Fazlur Rehman nor Amir Muqam could save prime minister from the Panama leaks scandal.
Earlier, Chief Minister Pervez Khattak announced several projects for Swat including Swat Expressway which he claimed to be completed by December 2017.
He announced upgradation of Matta, Kabal, Khwazakhela and Barikot hospitals and construction of a flyover on Kanju-Mingora Road.
Mr Khattak also announced to form a committee to divide Swat into two districts -- Lower Swat and Upper Swat. He also announced withdrawal of tax on the sands of the Swat River.
The chief minister said that the federal government ignored Khyber Pakhtunkwa in China-Pakistan Economic Corridor project but western route was included in the corridor as result of struggle of provincial government.rnment ignored Khyber Pakhtunkwa in China-Pakistan Economic Corridor project but western route was included in the corridor as result of struggle of provincial government.
Published in Dawn, May 23rd, 2016
http://www.dawn.com/news/1260137/imran-vows-to-make-kp-model-province
[h=1]Police information network launched
[/h] PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa police have established an incentive-based Police Information Network (PIN) to serve as a platform for the citizens to win significant amounts of cash reward for sharing credible information about terrorists and their facilitators.
The network is initially being launched in Peshawar and will later be extended to other parts of the province. With the launch of PIN, citizens of Peshawar will be able to earn up to Rs100,000 without compromising their identities as reward for informing police about terrorists, extortionists, target killers and their facilitators.
According to a statement issued here on Sunday, the decision to launch PIN was taken at a high-level meeting held here the other day chaired by IGP Nasir Khan Durrani.
It was decided that a lot of valuable intelligence could be obtained from the citizens provided they were confident that their identities would remain confidential. The meeting also chalked out the SOP for the working of PIN.
According to the SOP, PIN will be personally handled by senior most officers, including DIG CTD, CCPO, SSP CTD and SSP Peshawar. The citizens having any credible intelligence about the said categories will only have to send the term PIN as SMS on mobile phones of the above mentioned officers. These senior officers will then be contacting the sender personally for obtaining the information. Though unprecedented the involvement of senior most officers will help build public trust and credibility of PIN.
Platforms like PIN are being used globally by different LEAs involved in counter-terrorism and crime control.
Published in Dawn, May 23rd, 2016
http://www.dawn.com/news/1260134/police-information-network-launched
[h=1]Archaeology dept head rejects allegations of irregularities
[/h] PESHAWAR: Head of the provincial archaeology directorate on Monday alleged that members of the probe team tasked with investigating the alleged irregularities at the Peshawar Museum were involved in illegal excavations and antiquities smuggling.
Talking to reporters, director archaeology Dr Abdul Samad said forgeries allegations against his institution were levelled with ulterior motives so that treasure of the Peshawar Museum could be sold in the international market.
Earlier this month, provincial anti-corruption establishment had launched investigations into complaints of irregularities by a former female contract employee and its report containing serious allegations against the archaeology directorate and the Peshawar Museum was leaked to media some days back.
Mr Samad, however, rubbished the allegations and said NAB had already probed the allegations levelled by former museum contract employee, Bilqees Begum. He said the bureau had cleared the museum of all charges. He said the anti-corruption establishment started highlighting the news in media even before launching a proper investigation, thus blackmailing and harassing the museum staff.
Mr Samad said the constitution of probe committee headed by a ‘corrupt retired officer with shady record’ was intentional as Dr Makin Khan, who was illegally appointed inquiry officer, had serious corruption charges against him when he worked at National Museum Karachi.
The archaeology directorate chief continued that his (Dr Makin’s) pension was withheld to recover museum dues, saying he had no professional knowledge or experience in archaeology and coin history as he held a masters degree in geography.
Mr Samad claimed that the anti-graft body also got involved another private individual, Mr Zulqarnain, in the investigation, who he alleged, was involved in antiquity smuggling. Dr Samad said an FIR was registered against Zulqarnain in 2012 after he was arrested by Mardan police for smuggling antiquities.
Mr Samad said both the people on the probe body were given free access to highly restricted reserve collection at the Peshawar Museum, where they made unauthorised videos of collection.
Mr Samad said the KP government had also written to NAB to take action against director ACE Ziaullah Toru or to allow the provincial government to take action against him under efficiency and disciplinary rules.
Published in Dawn, May 24th, 2016
http://www.dawn.com/news/1260298/archaeology-dept-head-rejects-allegations-of-irregularities
[/h] PESHAWAR: About 30 officers of the Provincial Earthquake Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Authority (Perra) and Nespak have been held responsible for serious irregularities and lapses in different schemes being carried out in the earthquake-affected districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
This was revealed at the 21st Perra provincial steering committee’s meeting, which was held with the additional chief secretary, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Mohammad Azam Khan in the chair.
A statement issued here said that that the committee in its previous meeting had tasked a team under the DG monitoring and evaluation to evaluate 140 schemes proposed for revision and submit its recommendations concerning abnormal delays and creating financial liabilities for the government.
The inquiry team in its findings pointed out irregularities in planning and designing of the schemes, revealing that the projects awarded in 2007-08 could have been completed within stipulated time as the flow of funds was regular and mobilisation advance paid to the contractors.
The inquiry team in its report termed the escalation paid in such projects, without the approval of the competent authority, as irregular and illegal and suggested stern action against officials involved in irregularities.
The steering committee was informed that during monitoring and evaluation of equipment and weapons provided to the Hazara police under Perra, the police did not cooperate to ascertain the quality of 213 AK-47 rifles. The committee chairman directed the officials concerned to approach the IG in this matter and to complete the task in 30 days.
Published in Dawn, May 26th, 2016
http://www.dawn.com/news/1260780/30-officers-held-responsible-for-lapses-in-schemes
[h=1]Nazims to move high court against changes to LG law
[/h] MANSEHRA: The district nazims of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa will challenge the amendments to the Local Government Act 2013 and the subsequent rules of business for local bodies in the Peshawar High Court.
This was claimed by Mansehra district nazim Sardar Said Ghulam during a news conference here on Wednesday.
“During a recent meeting, we, the district nazims from across the province, decided to move the high court to seek the annulment of the amendments to the LG Act 2013 and business rules introduced by the provincial government in 2015,” Mansehra district nazim Sardar Said Ghulam told reporters here.
Flanked by deputy opposition leader in the district council Malik Naveed, the nazim said nazims of the province were united to thwart the provincial government’s policies against the LG system, which was introduced through the elections held on the orders of the Supreme Court.
[h=4]Also threaten agitation over denial of rights[/h]
He said the government had never accepted local bodies and therefore, it had been creating hurdles to their smooth functioning.
Mr. Ghulam, who belongs to the PML-N, criticised both the federal and provincial governments for ignoring nazims during the visits of prime minster, governor and chief minister to their respective visits and warned such attitude won’t be tolerated.
“It is evident now that neither the federal nor provincial government is sincere about the LG system’s development. The nazims are disgraced during the visits of VVIPs,” he said.
The nazim said the PTI and PML-N governments had empowered bureaucracy to fail the elected LG members.
He said LG members across the province would observe a back day on the first anniversary of local bodies to protest the PTI government’s hostile policies.
On the occasion, deputy opposition leader in the district council Malik Naveed of the JUI-F complained that district governments in the province were denied development funds even a year after their elections.
“If the government doesn’t provide us with rights shown in the Local Government Act 2013, we will come onto the streets. We don’t want to be part of a disabled LG system,” he said.
FUNDS RELEASED: The district account office, Mansehra, formally gave the second tranche of developmental funds to the local government on Wednesday.
Manger of the National Bank of Pakistan’s Noguzi branch Mohammad Nadeem told reporters here that the district account office had transferred Rs180 million worth of second tranche of uplift funds to the central bank account of village and neighbourhood councils.
“We will now transfer that amount of money to the respective bank accounts of 194 village and neighbourhood councils in Mansehra in line with the instructions of the district account office,” he said.
Mr. Nadeem said the district account office had also transferred another amount of Rs60 million to those local bodies for payments of honorarium to nazims, naib nazim and councillors.
Safada village council nazim Basharat Ali said hundreds of micro-development schemes could be completed by the utilisation of Rs180 million funds and thus, increasing the people’s confidence in village and neighbourhood councils.
Published in Dawn, May 26th, 2016
http://www.dawn.com/news/1260772/nazims-to-move-high-court-against-changes-to-lg-law
[h=1]Rs340m approved for upgrading Swabi’s medical complex
[/h]SWABI: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government has allocated Rs340 million for upgradation of Bacha Khan Medical Complex in Shahmansoor area, says health minister Shahram Khan Tarakai.
He announced this while speaking at the inaugural ceremony of the complex’s upgradation here on Tuesday. MNA Usman Khan Tarakai, PTI leaders and workers and officials of health department and district administration were in attendance.
The minister said the project would be completed within a year to provide adequate health facilities to people, sparing them the trouble of taking their patients to Peshawar, Mardan and Islamabad hospitals.
The PTI-led provincial government has improved health facilities in the district, keeping pace with the increasing population, he said.
Another objective of the upgradation of the medical complex, he said was to give training opportunity to the students of Gajju Khan Medical College, where classes are likely to commence during the current year.
Meanwhile, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly Speaker Asad Qaisar said on Tuesday that classes in Gajju Khan Medical College would be started this year. He stated this while chairing a meeting on the affairs of the medical college.
Mr Qaisar said the government wanted to launch the medical college last year, but due to some difficulties it couldn’t be done. However, he said students would be offered admissions during the current year.
“Establishment of the medical college in Swabi is a big achievement of the PTI-led government,” he said.
http://www.dawn.com/news/1260441/rs340m-approved-for-upgrading-swabis-medical-complex
[h=1]Transvestites face humiliation, violence
[/h] PESHAWAR: Around 45 transvestites have met violent death during the last two years while others live to face insecurity and gender discrimination in accessing basic facilities in everyday life, says Farzana Jan, the president of Shemale Association of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Farzana Jan was sitting on bedside of Alisha, 25, who was shot eight times near her one-room rented residence at Iqbal Plaza near Parda Bagh, Faqirbabad locality on Sunday night by one of her disgruntled and violent customer. In her statement to the police, Alisha identified him as Fazl Gujjar, a resident of Bakhshoo Pull.
Alisha is the fifth reported case of violence against transvestites as earlier Adnan, Sameer (Chocolate), Komal and Ayesha were also targeted. Interestingly, all these transvestites are members of Trans Action Alliance, formed by civil society and transgender of the province to raise voice for their rights.
All kinds of attempts to kill, kidnap, harass, rape and humiliate transvestites have been made by different people, said to be ‘a group of blackmailers’, who extort money from them by intimidating and abusing them, rights activists and members of the alliance say.
“These attacks started when transgender, who had been long quiet and too timid to speak up for their rights, held protests for their rights. Some anti-social elements abuse them and extort money from them,” said Qamar Naseem, a member of the Transaction Alliance.
[h=4]Attendant of injured transgender narrates ordeal at hospital[/h]
The Transaction Alliance mostly comprising transvestites, who had recently held several protests against violence and demanded security, were shunned away by the chief minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to whom they wanted to present their demands.
Qamar Naseem says that security issue of transvestites is very serious as around 300 cases of violence against transgender were detected by Blue-Veins , the organisation he works for.
“The doctors kept asking the injured Alisha if she danced only and how much she charged whereas the blood laboratory guy asked them if their blood was HIV positive or not,” said Naseem, narrating the experience of taking an injured transgender to Lady reading Hospital, one of the oldest health facilities of the province.
Badly injured Alisha was admitted to Lady Reading Hospital where she was said to be in stable condition. However, Farzana was almost teary-eyed as she described how she had to run around looking for doctors and finding a suitable ward while people, mostly attendants with admitted patients, chased her and teased her instead of helping her in the hour of need.
The male and female wards were also reluctant to have the injured transgender so the attendants including Farzana and other transvestites had to admit Alisha to a private room in Bolton Block of LRH.
Farzana said that callous people, who were either patients or their attendants, were continuously ridiculing them and laughing at them when they were going through a tragic incident.
“These people don’t laugh at us when they book us for their shows and family functions but they laugh at us when we like any human being are going through some trouble,” she said. She added that she felt belittled and humiliated when instead of helping her injured friend people were laughing at them.
“They won’t let us treat our patients or even grieve for our dead at the hospital. I felt as if I am not a human being or even not from this world when I see such inhuman behaviour of so-called Muslim people,” said Farzana.
She said that gender discrimination in access to basic facilities like health, education, profession, security to life, property and living life like any other Pakistani reduced them just to performing arts like dance and singing.
“People don’t let a transgender rent a house or portion in any decent locality. The worst is when they get sick, injured or even killed the people won’t treat them at hospital like a human being,” she added.
There are around 48,000 to 55,000 transgender in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa while many still wait for their registration for national identity card.
Most of the Shemale Association members, who are more like a family of Farzana now, have been shunned by their own families. When they end up as performing artists, the customers also mistreat them and often their unjustified demands and infringement on freedom of a transgender end up in a violent encounter.
“Despite having been mistreated, raped, harassed and attacked in their own houses many of the transgender having witnessed the horror fail to speak up since they lack legal and social support,” says Qamar Naseem.
Published in Dawn, May 24th, 2016
http://www.dawn.com/news/1260313/transvestites-face-humiliation-violence
[h=1]Power plant inaugurated in Upper Dir
[/h] UPPER DIR: A hydropower house with the capacity of 75 kilowatt was inaugurated in Kumrat area of remote Kohistan valley in Upper Dir district which would provide electricity to over 2,000 people of the area.
The powerhouse was established by Sarhad Rural Support Programme with the collaboration of European Union.
A ceremony was organised at Kumrat valley to inaugurate the project. Operation Commander, Pakistan Army, Brig Rao Mohammad Aamir Yaseen was the chief guest on the occasion.
SRSP regional programme manager Noor Ajab and local elders were also present on the occasion.
Speaking on the occasion, Brig Yaseen said that establishment of the powerhouse was a great step, as people of Kumrat would get electricity without suspension. He said that Kumrat was one of the scenic tourist spots in Pakistan and tourism would get a boost when tourists would know about the availability of electricity in the area. He appreciated the role of SRSP in the development of Upper Dir.
Published in Dawn, May 24th, 2016
http://www.dawn.com/news/1260285/power-plant-inaugurated-in-upper-dir
[h=1]Over 50 schools in Charsadda without heads
[/h] CHARSADDA: Over 50 high and higher secondary schools in Charsadda district are said to have been running without principals, affecting their educational and administrative affairs.
The disclosure was made at a meeting of the school officers’ association chaired by its district president Haji Rahmuddin the other day. They demanded that the education department constitute a provincial selection board on a war footing to promote senior teachers to the post of principals.
They said the posts of principals in about 50 high and higher secondary schools for boys and girls in Agra, Hari Chand, Mandani, Shakar Dhand, Dargai, Bubak, Hasanzai, Tetara, Haleemzai Shabqadar, Matta Mughalkhel, Ghazgi and Zuhrab Gul Kalli had been lying vacant.
The association members said appointment of permanent principals was vital to improve education standard in these schools. They said on one hand the PTI-led provincial government was making tall claims of education emergency, while on the other, most schools in the province had no administrative heads.
The teachers through a unanimously passed resolution demanded of the chief minister and the education department to arrange provincial selection board to appoint competent senior teachers on merit on the posts of principals.
Published in Dawn, May 24th, 2016
CHARSADDA: Over 50 high and higher secondary schools in Charsadda district are said to have been running without principals, affecting their educational and administrative affairs.
The disclosure was made at a meeting of the school officers’ association chaired by its district president Haji Rahmuddin the other day. They demanded that the education department constitute a provincial selection board on a war footing to promote senior teachers to the post of principals.
They said the posts of principals in about 50 high and higher secondary schools for boys and girls in Agra, Hari Chand, Mandani, Shakar Dhand, Dargai, Bubak, Hasanzai, Tetara, Haleemzai Shabqadar, Matta Mughalkhel, Ghazgi and Zuhrab Gul Kalli had been lying vacant.
The association members said appointment of permanent principals was vital to improve education standard in these schools. They said on one hand the PTI-led provincial government was making tall claims of education emergency, while on the other, most schools in the province had no administrative heads.
The teachers through a unanimously passed resolution demanded of the chief minister and the education department to arrange provincial selection board to appoint competent senior teachers on merit on the posts of principals.
Published in Dawn, May 24th, 2016
[h=1]Imran vows to make KP model province
[/h] MINGORA: Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf chairman Imran Khan has said that they will make Khyber Pakhtunkhwa a model province of the country.
Addressing a public meeting at Grassy Ground here on Sunday, he said that 25 million children were out of schools in the country but prime minister had no concern for them.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Pervez Khattak, Mushtaq Ghani, MNAs and MPAs of PTI were also present on the occasion.
Mr Khan said that Prime Minister Mian Nawaz Sharif had been visiting different places in the country to announce projects since the issue of Panama Paper leaks surfaced.
“Wherever Mian Sahib visits, his speech starts with motorways. History shows that motorways cannot make nations. Being a prime minister he must construct schools for the out of school children if he wants real change in the country,” said Mr Khan.
The PTI chief said that Khyber Pakhtunkhwa was changing with the implementation of PTI policies as new schools and universities were being built in the province. “We will show to the whole Pakistan that Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is a model province,” he said.
Mr Khan said that prime minister was not sincere with the people of Swat as National Highway Authority didn’t reconstruct Kalam Road in three years. He said that PTI introduced reward and punishment system in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa police to make it the best one in the country. “Similarly, change is being made in the health and education departments. Soon the entire country will see a visible change as PTI is continuously working for the betterment of institutions,” he said.
“During the previous 30 years, Nawaz Sharif could not change a single institution in Punjab. He could not even make a single hospital of international standard. He goes abroad for treatment while I underwent medical treatment twice in Shaukat Khanam Memorial Hospital,” said the PTI chief.
He said that PTI policies were focused on the future of the country, targeting youth. “We will complete plantation of one billion trees till 2018. It will tackle the issue of global warming,” he added.
Mr Khan said that PTI introduced local government system to devolve powers. “Initially we have some problems but we are working o those. Soon people will see the best local government system in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa,” he said, adding that 30 per cent of development funds would be allocated to village councils.
The PTI chief said that in the past Khyber Pakhtunkhwa topped the list of corruption but then it became the less corrupt province of the country.
He said that PTI would soon launch a campaign of accountability of the corrupt leadership, which looted the country during the last three decades. “PTI would go to any extent against corruption and Panama leaks to bring back the $200 billion from Swiss banks and Rs700 billion from Dubai,” he vowed.
Mr Khan said that neither Fazlur Rehman nor Amir Muqam could save prime minister from the Panama leaks scandal.
Earlier, Chief Minister Pervez Khattak announced several projects for Swat including Swat Expressway which he claimed to be completed by December 2017.
He announced upgradation of Matta, Kabal, Khwazakhela and Barikot hospitals and construction of a flyover on Kanju-Mingora Road.
Mr Khattak also announced to form a committee to divide Swat into two districts -- Lower Swat and Upper Swat. He also announced withdrawal of tax on the sands of the Swat River.
The chief minister said that the federal government ignored Khyber Pakhtunkwa in China-Pakistan Economic Corridor project but western route was included in the corridor as result of struggle of provincial government.rnment ignored Khyber Pakhtunkwa in China-Pakistan Economic Corridor project but western route was included in the corridor as result of struggle of provincial government.
Published in Dawn, May 23rd, 2016
http://www.dawn.com/news/1260137/imran-vows-to-make-kp-model-province
[h=1]Police information network launched
[/h] PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa police have established an incentive-based Police Information Network (PIN) to serve as a platform for the citizens to win significant amounts of cash reward for sharing credible information about terrorists and their facilitators.
The network is initially being launched in Peshawar and will later be extended to other parts of the province. With the launch of PIN, citizens of Peshawar will be able to earn up to Rs100,000 without compromising their identities as reward for informing police about terrorists, extortionists, target killers and their facilitators.
According to a statement issued here on Sunday, the decision to launch PIN was taken at a high-level meeting held here the other day chaired by IGP Nasir Khan Durrani.
It was decided that a lot of valuable intelligence could be obtained from the citizens provided they were confident that their identities would remain confidential. The meeting also chalked out the SOP for the working of PIN.
According to the SOP, PIN will be personally handled by senior most officers, including DIG CTD, CCPO, SSP CTD and SSP Peshawar. The citizens having any credible intelligence about the said categories will only have to send the term PIN as SMS on mobile phones of the above mentioned officers. These senior officers will then be contacting the sender personally for obtaining the information. Though unprecedented the involvement of senior most officers will help build public trust and credibility of PIN.
Platforms like PIN are being used globally by different LEAs involved in counter-terrorism and crime control.
Published in Dawn, May 23rd, 2016
http://www.dawn.com/news/1260134/police-information-network-launched
[h=1]Archaeology dept head rejects allegations of irregularities
[/h] PESHAWAR: Head of the provincial archaeology directorate on Monday alleged that members of the probe team tasked with investigating the alleged irregularities at the Peshawar Museum were involved in illegal excavations and antiquities smuggling.
Talking to reporters, director archaeology Dr Abdul Samad said forgeries allegations against his institution were levelled with ulterior motives so that treasure of the Peshawar Museum could be sold in the international market.
Earlier this month, provincial anti-corruption establishment had launched investigations into complaints of irregularities by a former female contract employee and its report containing serious allegations against the archaeology directorate and the Peshawar Museum was leaked to media some days back.
Mr Samad, however, rubbished the allegations and said NAB had already probed the allegations levelled by former museum contract employee, Bilqees Begum. He said the bureau had cleared the museum of all charges. He said the anti-corruption establishment started highlighting the news in media even before launching a proper investigation, thus blackmailing and harassing the museum staff.
Mr Samad said the constitution of probe committee headed by a ‘corrupt retired officer with shady record’ was intentional as Dr Makin Khan, who was illegally appointed inquiry officer, had serious corruption charges against him when he worked at National Museum Karachi.
The archaeology directorate chief continued that his (Dr Makin’s) pension was withheld to recover museum dues, saying he had no professional knowledge or experience in archaeology and coin history as he held a masters degree in geography.
Mr Samad claimed that the anti-graft body also got involved another private individual, Mr Zulqarnain, in the investigation, who he alleged, was involved in antiquity smuggling. Dr Samad said an FIR was registered against Zulqarnain in 2012 after he was arrested by Mardan police for smuggling antiquities.
Mr Samad said both the people on the probe body were given free access to highly restricted reserve collection at the Peshawar Museum, where they made unauthorised videos of collection.
Mr Samad said the KP government had also written to NAB to take action against director ACE Ziaullah Toru or to allow the provincial government to take action against him under efficiency and disciplinary rules.
Published in Dawn, May 24th, 2016
http://www.dawn.com/news/1260298/archaeology-dept-head-rejects-allegations-of-irregularities
Syed Haider Imam
Chief Minister (5k+ posts)
May 27 2016
Syed Haider Imam
Chief Minister (5k+ posts)
MAY 28 2016
Syed Haider Imam
Chief Minister (5k+ posts)
MAY 29 2016
Syed Haider Imam
Chief Minister (5k+ posts)
MAY 30 2016
Syed Haider Imam
Chief Minister (5k+ posts)
MAY 31 2016
Syed Haider Imam
Chief Minister (5k+ posts)
june 01 2016
