PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa cabinet on Wednesday approved two draft notifications granting sales tax relief to local service providers and industrial undertakings in Malakand division and the erstwhile tribal areas, and cleared a series of measures relating to education, youth employment, healthcare and compensation for victims of terrorist attacks.
One notification provides exemption from sales tax on services for local service providers, while the other exempts industrial undertakings established or operating in the erstwhile tribal areas and Malakand division from the obligation to withhold sales tax.
In an official statement issued after Wednesday’s cabinet meeting, KP Chief Minister Sohail Afridi said the government had set a revenue target of Rs180 billion for the current fiscal year and expressed confidence that it would be achieved through sustained efforts to strengthen revenue mobilisation.
He appreciated cabinet members for interacting with people in their respective areas and urged them to continue such visits, stressing that ground realities could not be understood by sitting in offices.
He said interaction with the public would help resolve people’s problems and highlight shortcomings in service delivery.
“When you don’t allow corruption, stand by the truth and believe in merit and transparency, you will find a lot of people against you,” he said, alleging that nobody spoke about the reported Rs5.3 trillion corruption involving taxpayers’ money, while institutions turned against those who stood against the establishment.
Imran’s health
During the meeting, Mr Afridi also expressed concern over reports regarding the health of incarcerated PTI founder Imran Khan and accused the federal government and prison administration of failing to address the issue.
He said Imran had been “super fit” before being “kidnapped” and claimed that people did not trust assurances from representatives of the “fake” government that his health was satisfactory.
Mr Afridi said that when he was prime minister, Imran had allowed individuals with allegedly falsified platelet reports to travel abroad for treatment. He demanded that Imran be allowed to meet his personal physicians, family members, lawyers and friends, saying this was his constitutional right.
Education, welfare measures
Later, Information and Public Relations Minister Shafi Jan told the media that the cabinet had approved an increase in the allocation for the Ehsaas Naujawan Programme from Rs3bn to Rs5bn in view of sustained public demand and a growing number of applications.
He said the flagship programme was aimed at promoting youth entrepreneurship, self-employment, financial inclusion and sustainable livelihood opportunities across the province.
It approved Rs188.8 million as a one-time, non-recurring grant-in-aid for the current fiscal year for model schools in the merged districts.
A grant-in-aid of Rs60m was also approved for Langlands School and College, Chitral.
Mr Jan said the cabinet approved the signing of an inter-departmental memorandum of understanding aimed at reducing the number of out-of-school children in the province.
As part of education reforms, the cabinet approved a semester-wise “jacketed” textbook system for grades KG to V from the academic year 2027-28, with grades VI to VIII to follow later.
It also approved the provision of 100 per cent free textbooks to students of grades 9 to 12.
The jacketed textbook model, proposed by the KP Textbook Board, is aimed at reducing the weight of school bags and curricular burden by binding two or more core-subject textbooks under a single cover without altering the approved content.
The cabinet also approved financial assistance totalling Rs66.6m for the medical treatment of 21 deserving patients.
It approved the appointment of the chief executive officer of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Transmission and Grid System Company.
The cabinet approved enhanced compensation, in relaxation of the existing policy, for civilian victims of targeted militant attacks in Bajaur, providing Rs10m to the legal heirs of each deceased person and Rs2.5m to those suffering major or minor injuries.
It also approved a general increase in the standard compensation package for such cases, raising payments to legal heirs of deceased victims from Rs1m to Rs5m and compensation for those suffering major injuries to Rs1.5m.
Published in Dawn, August 13th, 2026
