PESHAWAR/ISLAMABAD - Prime Minister Imran Khan on Thursday inaugurated the much-awaited Bus Rapid Transit (brt) Project in Peshawar to facilitate poor amid criticism from opposition parties over long delay which increased the cost of the project.

Imran Khan while speaking on this occasion congratulated the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government especially Defence Minister Pervez Khattak for 3rd generation transport facility in Peshawar. He said the fare of BRT is affordable for common people and students.

Imran Khan said the BRT hybrid buses will reduce pollution besides solving the traffic issues in the city.

Later, the prime minister inspected the buses, ticketing system and expressed satisfaction over the arrangements made for commuters.

Earlier, the Prime Minister was briefed about the project. The premier was told that the route of BRT is twenty-seven-kilometer-long main corridor with thirty stations. Initially, 220 air-conditioned buses will ply on the corridor. Free Wi-Fi and mobile charging facilities have also been arranged for travellers. More than three-hundred thousand commuters will use BRT on daily basis. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Governor and Chief Minister, Federal Ministers Pervez Khattak and Noorul Haq Qadri were also present on this occasion.

Also, Prime Minister Imran Khan formally launched Ehsaas Nashonuma Programme to provide nutritious food and stipend to deserving families to check stunting in the country.

220 air-conditioned buses will ply on corridor

The Prime Minister visited a Nashonuma Centre in Khyber District on Thursday. Special Assistant on Poverty Alleviation Sania Nishtar briefed the Prime Minister about the programme. Ehsaas Nashonuma is the first anti-stunting program in the country's history. The budget of this year is 8.52 billion rupees. Under this program, the deserving families will be provided with nutritious food along with quarterly stipend, which will be two thousand rupees for girls and fifteen hundred rupees for boys.

The program has been started to protect pregnant women, breastfeeding mothers and children under the age of two years from malnutrition.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Imran Khan has directed the authorities to pay full attention to automation, digitization and simplification of systems at all stages in the construction sector. He was addressing the weekly meeting of National Coordination Committee for Housing, Construction and Development chaired by him in Islamabad on Thursday. The Chairman FBR informed the Prime Minister that the board has introduced an online registration system for construction projects, developers and builders to facilitate the taxpayers.

The Chief Secretary Balochistan informed the Prime Minister that in the light of the instructions of the Prime Minister, the period of implementation of NOCs and other approvals has been reduced to twenty days.

Welcoming the move by the Government of Balochistan to reduce the tax rate, the Prime Minister directed the Chief Secretary Balochistan to take further steps to reduce it and bring the taxes to the level of other provinces. Representatives of the business community said that for the first time in the history of the country, the government has provided such facilities in the construction sector and the approval process is not only getting easier but also faster. They said these government initiatives have not only encouraged investors and the business community, but also boosted economic activity.

The Chairman CDA briefed the Prime Minister about the auction for plots for overseas Pakistanis in the residential sector of Park Enclave 3 and Blue Area in the Federal Capital Territory.