CM directs Information, Finance Depts to clear arrears of media houses

F.P. Report

PESHAWAR: Chief Minister Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Mahmood Khan has directed the Information and Finance Departments to take necessary clear the arrears of media houses in respect of routine advertisements further directing to work out the dues in respect of individual departments and prepare a plan for the payment of these arrears within a month The chief minister tasked his Principal Secretary Amjad Ali Khan to convene a meeting of the high ups of all concerned departments and to finalize all matters to this end.

He was chairing a meeting held regarding media strategy of the provincial government. Provincial Cabinet members Taimur Saleem Jhagra, Shaukat Yousafzai, Kamran Bangash and Barrister Muhammad Ali Saif, Principal Secretary to CM Amjad Ali Khan, Secretary Information Zaka Ullah Khattak and other concerned officials attended the meeting.

The meeting deliberated upon the matters pertaining to give awareness to the public at large regarding the four-year achievements of the provincial government with special focus on public welfare initiatives, institutional reforms, measures taken under the Good Governance Strategy of the provincial government and highlight the issues of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa with federal government at national level; and it was decided to formulate a new media strategy to this end.

The meeting also decided to regularly engage journalists and representative bodies of journalists at various levels so that issues of province especially merged areas could be raised in an effective manner through media platforms.

It was also decided to form a core group comprising the concerned members of the provincial cabinet so that the narrative of the provincial government could be voiced in an effective manner on the media platforms

Talking on the occasion, the Chief Minister said that the incumbent federal government has resorted to injustice to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa especially the newly merged districts, instead of increasing the development budget of the newly merged districts, the federal government is reducing it. He further said that federal government is thinking of excluding development projects of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa reflected in PSDP and going to close down the sehat card program in NMDs.

He added that the provincial government would not compromise on the rights of the province and would use every available forum to raise its voice. He termed the media platform as the most effective means to raise the voice of the province government on the issue, and directed the concerned authorities to work out the modalities of the new media strategy as soon as possible. The Chief Minister also decided to hold regular weekly meetings to review the progress in this regard.