PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Apex Committee has pledged to improve the living standards of the province’s people, accelerate socioeconomic development and ensure the provision of basic facilities in underdeveloped and terrorism-affected areas.
The committee met at Governor House in Peshawar, co-chaired by Governor Faisal Karim Kundi and Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi, to review the province’s security situation and measures to maintain law and order.
According to a handout issued by the Governor House, the meeting was attended by members of the advisory council, the Peshawar corps commander, the chief secretary, the inspector general of police and other senior civil and military officials.
The committee reviewed the overall security situation in the province and discussed measures to eliminate terrorism and establish lasting peace.
The forum directed all relevant institutions to take coordinated, effective and decisive measures to eliminate terrorism, emphasising that intelligence-based operations would continue and all available resources would be utilised to improve law and order.
It also stressed the need to strengthen the operational capacity of the police and the Counter Terrorism Department (CTD). The committee decided to provide the departments with modern equipment, vehicles, armoured vehicles, effective weaponry, additional personnel and other necessary resources.
Mohsin Naqvi says federal, KP govts are on same page in fight against terrorism
The forum reaffirmed that eliminating terrorism and maintaining peace in the province remained a shared objective and top priority of all state institutions, adding that no compromise would be made on these goals.
The meeting also agreed to give special attention to the longstanding problems faced by the people of KP, particularly in education, healthcare and the quality of life in urban areas.
Participants noted that public welfare, access to basic facilities and socioeconomic development were directly linked to public security and sustainable peace, adding that these aspects had remained neglected in the past.
The committee further agreed to improve the delivery of public services, ensure the provision of basic facilities and make government services accessible to people at their doorsteps. Public suggestions, local needs and community priorities would be incorporated into policymaking and practical measures, the handout said.
The forum expressed its resolve that all relevant institutions would continue working through coordinated strategies and mutual cooperation to achieve peace, stability and development in the province.
Addressing the meeting, Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi said it was the first time he could proudly state that the federal and provincial governments were on the same page.