PESHAWAR: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Caretaker Chief Minister Dost Muhammad Khan presided over a meeting of the provincial cabinet that decided the formation of a cabinet committee and also took a number of decisions for the peaceful and transparent conduct of upcoming elections.
It also decided to improve the level of administrative and social justice in the province. The cabinet also agreed to introduce a policy of reward and punishment for improving the tax collection. Provincial ministers and senior government officials also attended the meeting that focused on addressing the legal challenges in the wake of the merger of FATA into Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
The cabinet was briefed about the fiscal space of the province, the four months budgetary proposals, the level of preparedness for the upcoming elections, the administrative steps required for good governance and creating a congenial environment for efficient delivery and improving administrative measures in order to give relief to the people and facilitate the peaceful and transparent conduct of the general elections.
The cabinet committee to be headed by the caretaker chief minister with representation from the provincial caretaker cabinet and administration will focus on the comprehension of problems, the identification of legal anomalies emerging out of the merger and finding suitable solution for the smooth transition in the backdrop of the merger. The mainstreaming of the tribal area is the ultimate goal and the cabinet committee will work on fast track that would take care of the financial and administrative measures and would work for the confidence building of the tribal people.
Addressing the cabinet, Caretaker Chief Minister Dost said that the merger has brought along legal and administrative challenges required for the speedy mainstreaming of the tribal area. He said that he has made up his mind to facilitate the merger with a multi-prong approach. He had talked to the federal finance minister for early transfer of the resources both of the province and the planned money for the development and mainstreaming of the newly-merged areas with the province.
Dost Muhammad Khan said that the emerging situation necessitated comprehensive administrative measures and the caretaker set up would go whole hog to take administrative measures required for the timely, peaceful and transparent conduct of the elections, ensuring quality governance and improved security situation in the province. He said that good governance requires implementation on the decisions.
He said that there were three dimensions to good governance that included the correct information to plan a timely response followed by corrective measures and delivery. He said that his government would ensure that the governance structure has the required level of efficient delivery in all spheres. He reminded that he had ordered the closure of play-land and swings etc in the parks following an incident in Abbottabad linking their opening to the NOC by the respective deputy commissioners.
There are reports that the orders had not been implemented in letter and spirit, he said, adding that the deputy commissioners should get a feedback from the consultants after examination of the fitness of these play-lands and swings etc. The decisions for good governance should be put on the ground, he added.
He called upon the provincial administration to keep him informed about the steps being taken for the general elections and specially the security related issues in order to take prompt actions. He called upon the participants to take all out efforts for creating a conducive environment required for the smooth and transparent elections in the province.
