PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa cabinet has approved two draft notifications granting sales tax relief to local service providers and industrial undertakings in Malakand division and the erstwhile tribal areas, alongside a series of measures on education, youth employment and healthcare.
One notification exempts local service providers from sales tax on services, while the other frees industrial undertakings established or operating in the erstwhile tribal areas and Malakand division from the obligation to withhold sales tax.
Chief Minister Sohail Afridi said the government had set a revenue target of Rs180 billion for the current fiscal year and expressed confidence it would be met through sustained efforts to strengthen revenue mobilisation.
Information and Public Relations Minister Shafi Jan told the media the cabinet had approved an increase in the Ehsaas Naujawan Programme allocation from Rs3 billion to Rs5 billion, citing sustained public demand and a growing number of applications. He said the programme aims to promote youth entrepreneurship, self-employment, financial inclusion and sustainable livelihoods across the province.
The cabinet 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, along with a separate Rs60 million grant-in-aid for Langlands School and College, Chitral.
It also 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 starting the 2027-28 academic year, with grades VI to VIII to follow later. It also approved 100% free textbooks for students in grades 9 to 12.
The jacketed textbook model, proposed by the KP Textbook Board, is designed to reduce the weight of school bags and curricular burden by binding two or more core-subject textbooks under a single cover without altering approved content.
The cabinet additionally approved financial assistance totalling Rs66.6 million for the medical treatment of 21 deserving patients.
