The Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (KP) cabinet on Tuesday approved the journalists welfare fund rules and Food Fortification Act 2021.
Chief Minister Mahmood Khan approved to provide financial assistance of Rs1 million to families of journalists who were killed in terrorist incidents. A journalist who is completely disabled for any reason will be given financial assistance up to Rs200,000, and a sum of Rs200,000 for the wedding of a journalist’s son or daughter.
A journalist who has reached the age of 60 years and remained associated with journalism for 30 years will be given a stipend of Rs10,000 per month. In addition, a journalist who is fired from a newspaper or television channel and remains unemployed for three months will be paid Rs10,000 once a month for a period of 2 months. In case of death of a journalist or a member of his family, Rs50,000 will be paid as funeral expenses.
The provincial cabinet also approved the Food Fortification Act 2021, which aims to provide important vitamins, including iron, folic acid, in flour, edible oils and other foodstuffs that are imported or produced locally. It will ensure the presence of zinc, vitamin B12, vitamin A and vitamin D3 in foodstuff.
According to the National Nutrition Survey 2018, the rate of anemia in KP is 34.7 per cent due to lack of nutritious food for women. The iron deficiency in children is 60.8 per cent and 9.1 per cent in women. More than 15.9 per cent women are vitamin D deficient as a result women and children face problems such as lack of mental development, physical weakness, vision problems, deafness and anemia.
The provincial cabinet has approved the draft law 2021 for setting up Rs100 million endowment fund for transgender. The endowment fund will provide financial assistance to transgender as well as interest free loans for starting small businesses while training the concerned government officials. The provincial cabinet has approved the KP Journalists Welfare Endowment Fund Rules 2021.
The provincial cabinet has also approved rules prepared in the light of the Minimum Wages Act, 2013. Under which steps will be taken to ensure minimum wage provision and implementation. Â
These include the establishment of a wage board, inspection, registration in the register, and the steps to highlight the minimum wage. The minimum wage of 21,000 for contract employees will be applicable from July 1, 2021. The provincial government had decided to increase the minimum wage from 16,000 to 21,000. Â
However, it did not apply to Grade 1 to Grade 8 contract and project employees. The provincial cabinet today approved the issuance of a formal notification in this regard.
