The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), government has made special allocations for safeguarding and protecting the rights of minorities, promotion religious harmony and raising the living standards of the minority communities in the province.
An allocation of Rs90 million has been made by the KP government for the renovation/beautification of temples, gurdwaras and churches. Similarly, allocations to provide stipends, textbooks and free school uniforms to children belonging to the minority communities have also been made, according to an official handout issued here on Sunday.
Apart from this, sufficient funds have also been allocated to complete ongoing projects that were initiated by the KP government for the welfare of minority communities in fiscal 2015-16. These included a special financial assistance package - the Jahez Fund, health cover and construction of residential colonies, renovation of prayer houses and constructing of boundary walls around minorities' burial grounds.
Furthermore, a special allocation was also made for adequate security arrangements around places of worship, construction of a Hindu temple in district Karak and a special package for the Kalash people.
Likewise, an allocation of Rs9.855 million was also made for a skill enhancement scheme, initiated to provide free of cost training and skills to youth belonging to the minority communities. Furthermore, under the scheme more than 300 male/female youth were trained in trades of beautician, tailoring, computer basics, mobile phone and air conditioner repairing, electrician and plumbing and also included Rs700 paid for the participant's toolkits.
Another significant project was scholarships for minority community students from intermediate upwards to Masters or professional education level estimated at Rs4.03 million. Under the programme, 134 scholarships ranging from Rs20,000 to Rs55,000 per student in various level/ disciplines will be awarded. Basic objective behind the scheme was to enable students to get higher education and play their due role in community development.