Peshawar: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) government has decided to launch a province-wide village-level sanitation programme — the first of its kind in the region — with an initial allocation of PKR 5.5 billion. This landmark initiative aims to improve cleanliness and waste management across rural areas of the province.
The decision was made during a meeting of the Local Government Department chaired by Chief Minister Ali Amin Khan Gandapur. Senior provincial cabinet members, the chief secretary, administrative secretaries, and officials from the Local Government Department were in attendance.
In its first phase, the programme will be implemented across 2,061 rural union councils (UCs). Under this plan, each UC will be provided with one loader vehicle and sanitation equipment to support the collection and disposal of solid waste. A sanitation workforce of four individuals per union council will be recruited through a transparent daily wage-based process.
This workforce will carry out door-to-door waste collection and transport it to designated collection points managed by the relevant Tehsil Municipal Administrations (TMAs). Oversight of the implementation will be carried out by assistant commissioners, tehsil municipal officers, and assistant directors of the Local Government Department, with the active involvement of elected representatives and local government committees.
Chief Minister Gandapur called the programme a “signature initiative” of the current provincial government and emphasized that it represents the first organized attempt to provide structured sanitation services in KP’s rural regions. He directed all relevant departments to complete preparations for a formal launch by August 14, adding that transparency and adherence to rules must be maintained throughout the recruitment and implementation process.
The chief minister also instructed officials to devise a sustainable and realistic long-term strategy to ensure the continuity of the programme beyond its first phase. He expressed hope that the initiative would not only improve hygiene and sanitation in rural areas but also provide employment opportunities to thousands of individuals across the province.
According to officials, an effective monitoring mechanism will be established to track implementation and ensure service quality. Once the first phase is underway, the programme will be expanded to hilly and hard-to-reach union councils as part of the second phase.
The initiative is part of the KP government’s broader goal to strengthen local governance, improve service delivery, and address long-standing infrastructure and sanitation gaps in rural communities.
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