PESHAWAR: Caretaker Chief Minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa retired Justice Arshad Hussain Shah on Monday said the Council of Common Interest had agreed on the grant of the rights of the provinces over indigenous resources in line with the Constitution.

`Article 158 of the Constitution declares that the province in which a wellhead of natural gas was situated will have precedence over other parts of the country. The Council of Common Interest, in a recent meeting, agreed on the implementation of this constitutional provision. We [KP] will be the largest beneficiary of this decision that will ensure gas supply to our industrial sector on preference,` Mr Shah told his `farewell` presser at the Chief Minister`s House.

He said his government took up the Miran Block issue, which had been pendingresolutionfor the last 10 years, with the National E conomic Council and got the exclusive right to the oil and gas exploration field in Miramshah and surrounding areas.

Later, the chief minister`s secretariat issued a news release quoting the CM as saying KP had received Rs5.5 billion for the electricity sup-plied by it to the national grid.

He also said his government had held successful negotiations with the Asian Development Bank and European Union for the rehabilitation of flood-affected Ranolia hydropower project and mini micro-hydro power projects, respectively.

Mr Shah said his government effectively pursued the issue of the province`s dues to be cleared by the centre and got an additional amount of Rs64 billion from the federal government, Rs4.1 billion through reconciliation between the KP Revenue Authority and the Federal Board of Revenue, Rs20 billion under the National Finance Commission Award, Rs28 billion under the accelerated implementation programme for tribal districts, and Rs12 billion as net hydel profit.

`We got 57 developmental projects worth Rs206 billion cleared from the Provincial Development Working Party and mega projects worth Rs109 billion from the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council,` he said.

The CM said PC-I of 1337km roads and 62 bridges valuing Rs105 billion was approved under the Rural Roads Development Projects.

He said rationalisation of 376 developmental projects by his government saved Rs24 billion, while electrification of three union councils in Shangla district was completed at a cost of Rs485 million.

Mr Shah said his government developed and approved the Mines & Mineral Profit Sharing Rules, 2023, and issued 400 licences toattract private investments, while the province would receive Rs2.7 billion under the head of royalty and excise duty.

About tribal merged districts, he said medical equipment valuing billions of rupees was provided to hospitals in the erstwhile Fata, whose 13 hospitals were outsourced to improve services.

The CM said industrial activities were initiated in the economic zones of tribal districts, whereas a feasibility study was conducted for setting up economic zones in Kurram and South Waziristan tribal districts.

He said the `Education for All Campaign` was launched in collaboration with the Pakistan Army and Frontier Corps, and 33,000 children were enrolled during his government, which also introduced quantum computing, with the youth of the province winning 20,000 Google scholarships.

Mr Shah said the province faced financial issues and there was no cash available to pay the salaries of employees when the caretakers took up the reins of the government, but through better teamwork and an effective strategy, they steered the province out of the financial crisis.

`At this point in time, the provincial exchequer has Rs100 billion.

Our government did not borrow even a single penny from any financial institution,` the statement quoted the CM as saying.

Cabinet members Barrister Feroz Jamal Shah Kakakhel, Ahmad Rasool Banagash, Dr Najeebullah were also present on the occasion.