KP cabinet okays tax relief for Malakand, ex-Fata

The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa cabinet voted in favor of two draft notifications on Wednesday, granting sales tax relief to local service providers and industrial undertakings in Malakand division and the former tribal regions. In a subsequent meeting, Chief Minister Sohail Afridi informed that the provincial government had set a revenue target of Rs180 billion for the current fiscal year and expressed confidence in achieving this goal through strengthened revenue mobilization efforts.

Afridi commended cabinet members for engaging with constituents in their respective areas and emphasized the importance of understanding ground realities. The chief minister also criticized those who spread misinformation about corruption involving taxpayers' money and criticized the federal government for not addressing the health issues of PTI founder Imran Khan.

Afridi further demanded that Imran be granted permission to meet with his personal physicians, family members, lawyers, and friends, stating it to be his constitutional right. The cabinet also approved an increase in funding for the Ehsaas Naujawan Programme, raising its allocation from Rs3 billion to Rs5 billion. Furthermore, Rs188.8 million was allocated for the current fiscal year as a one-time grant-in-aid for model schools in the merged districts, and Rs60 million was allocated for Langlands School and College in Chitral.

The cabinet finalized an inter-departmental memorandum of understanding to reduce the number of out-of-school children in the province, and it approved a "jacketed" textbook system for grades KG to V and free textbooks for grades 9 to 12. Additionally, the cabinet allocated Rs66.6 million for the medical treatment of 21 deserving patients, and increased compensation for civilian victims of militant attacks in Bajaur, raising payments to legal heirs of deceased victims from Rs1 million to Rs5 million and compensation for those with major injuries to Rs1.5 million.