KikxNow , Digital Creator

  Musarrat Ullah Jan – Kikxnow Digital Creator PESHAWAR — An RTI request submitted to the Regional Sports Officer (RSO) Kohat on May 14, 2025, remains pending even after three months. The applicant sought detailed information under the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Right to Information Act 2013 regarding the budget and expenditure for the fiscal year 2024–25. The matter has now been taken to the RTI Commission under complaint number 12595. The request focused on Fund KT21C46 – Sports, Culture, Tourism & Museums, with provided figures showing: Original budget estimate: PKR 10,516,970 Amount released: PKR 18,598,049 Amount spent: PKR 21,059,690 The applicant questioned why funds exceeding the original budget estimate were released and why the expenditure surpassed even the released amount. The RTI request also sought a breakdown of each project or activity, including receipts, invoices, details of “Miscellaneous” expenses, beneficiaries’ names, and the basis for payments. In a...

  Musarrat Ullah Jan – Kikxnow Digital Creator Khyber District, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa — The “Shapola Archaeology” conservation project has come under scrutiny after allegations of an extra payment of Rs. 2.009 million for stone chipping work surfaced. A Right to Information (RTI) request was filed on May 1, 2025, with the relevant department, but no response has been received to date. The RTI application questioned why, according to the approved Bill of Quantities (BOQ), only 2,544 CFT of work costing Rs. 712,320 was sanctioned, yet a total of 9,719 CFT was measured and paid for. Who authorized the extra 7,175 CFT? And was a Technical Sanction (TS) obtained for the additional work, or not? The applicant also requested: A complete copy of the contract with M/s Shah Brothers (total estimate Rs. 30.44 million, payments made Rs. 15.803 million) The original MBs (measurement books) and records of the additional work The special audit report identifying the extra payment Minut...

Musarrat Ullah Jan – KikxNow Digital Creator Five years ago, a promising vision germinated in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa: creating a new crop of squash champions. Drawn by giants such as Jahangir and Jan Sher Khan, the Provincial Sports Directorate undertook a scheme to construct eight modern squash courts. The intention was to establish modern facilities in schools and colleges in Peshawar, providing a pipeline of new talent and taking the pressure off established outlets. But now, this dream is a haunting emptiness. The multi-million-rupee venture has yielded nothing but a series of empty, abandoned courts. The issue started with a total lack of openness. The contract for the project was a bureaucratic maze, with a new company for every phase of construction. This disorganized process led to low-quality, uneven construction. A walk-through of these courts shows the dismal consequences: peeling paint, cracked floors, and a general air of neglect. Nowhere is this breakdown more pronounce...

  Musarrat Ullah Jan – KikxNow Digital Creator Severe questions have been raised about a juice stall that is running within the Hayatabad Sports Complex, belonging to the Directorate General of Sports Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. As a gesture towards transparency, a concerned citizen has formally submitted an application under the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Right to Information (RTI) Act 2013 requesting complete information regarding the approval and funding of the stall. The candidate has asked for information on who gave the permission to set up the juice stall within the complex and on whose official or departmental authority this permission has been given. Copies of any written clearance, file notings, or notices pertaining to this permission have been sought. The main issues revolve around the allegation that the stall was assigned to a young person identified as a "deserving athlete." The applicant inquires who decided this and on what basis or documentation his or her inability t...

  Musarrat Ullah Jan – Kikxnow Digital Creator Peshawar, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa – The vision of a world-class Tartan Running Track for the Peshawar athletes remains nothing more than a vision. What was conceived as a pinnacle of sporting achievement at the Peshawar Sports Directorate has turned into a tale of spiraling costs, mysterious delays, and escalating public discontent. For the third time, this already extravagant project is presented with another budget hike, which evokes outrage and renews apprehensions of unchecked corruption in the sports development of the province. To begin with, the project's PC-1 (Project Concept-1) was sanctioned for a cost of barely more than Rs. 380 million. This soon grew to Rs. 680 million, the Directorate boldly promising completion by December 2024. However, with the deadline approaching, the track is still incomplete, and the contractor, instead of being penalized for the delay, is now said to be lobbying for yet another dollop of finances. ...

  Musarrat Ullah Jan – KikxNow Digital Creator It is a peculiar mystery at the Lala Ayub Hockey Stadium, one of the most prominent stadiums in Peshawar. Nine bathrooms on the stadium's rooftop have been cleared out. The taps, showers, and other expensive fixtures, paid for using public money and vital for the facility's sportsmen, have disappeared into thin air. The most surprising thing is how silently it happened. There has been no official investigation, and no First Information Report (FIR) has been lodged, and no person has been brought to book. The robbery, it seems, took place under an institutional silence. A former sports officer is said by sources to have directed a daily-wage staff and a permanent government servant by word to take away the fixtures. The reason, they were informed, was to let a contractor put new ones in place. This directive was not accompanied by any written sanction or authorized plan. When the old fittings were pulled out, the contractor prot...

  Musarrat Ullah Jan – Kikxnow Digital Creator Peshawar — August 4: Another case of bureaucratic delay, the Directorate of Sports for Merged Areas, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa's official website (mergedsports.kp.gov.pk) continues to mention Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq as Secretary Sports and Youth Affairs — a job he relinquished a while back, when Amer Afaq took charge and is indeed discharging his responsibilities. The dated profile is not merely a minor clerical mistake — it's a blinding oversight in e-governance. While the provincial Sports and Youth Affairs Department's primary platforms reflect Amer Afaq's recent activities, the consolidated areas portal is stuck in the past, misleading stakeholders, journalists, and the general public. Critics argue that such negligence erodes the department's credibility and raises discomfiting questions: If the leadership profile is inaccurate, how accurate is the posted budget, tenders, and sports event information? Who is account...

Musarrat Ullah Jan – Kikxnow digital artist Mardan — The Regional Sports Office in Mardan recently issued its procurement report for the financial year 2024-25, showing purchases made on sports equipment, maintenance items, stationery, and promotional materials. The report has, however, generated eyebrows from local sports circles regarding the transparency and need for the buys. The office incurred millions in a broad array of products such as trophies, Pakistan and Kashmir flags, and myriad sporting equipment for shot put, discus, javelin, cricket, hockey, volleyball, football, squash, badminton, and table tennis, says the official document. The equipment was allegedly bought upon athletes' demands and some of it remains in stock to be distributed as required, according to the report. Apart from sporting gear, the office also bought grounds and complex maintenance supplies, including water pipes, LED bulbs, wire cables, cleaning supplies, plants, shovels, sickles, and chemi...

  Musarrat Ullah Jan – Kikxnow digital artist A nepotism-based scandal has been revealed within the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Sports Directorate. A high-ranking official is charged with masterminding the permanent appointment of his brother-in-law, a decision that was circumventing regular procedures and not transparent. The scandal is about a man named Hamza, who is the in-law of a senior directorate official. Hamza, sources say, was first employed in 2022 as an electrician for the "1000 Sports Facilities Project." The issue is, he had no diploma and no experience relevant to the position, sources say. The matter worsened after Hamza was allegedly transferred permanently to a post as a storekeeper in the Operations Division. The process of regularization by then Project Director Murad Ali and then DG Khalid Khan had been done without a public advertisement or any of the standard legal requirements. Critics say this is a clear contravention of recruitment rules and a sign...

  Musarrat Ullah Jan – Kikxnow digital creator Peshawar — The Sports Directorate of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is again in the midst of criticism for outright violation of official instructions. In spite of explicit instructions from the Sports Minister and DG Sports to close down the courts and gyms after specified time, the Squash Court and Badminton Hall are open late into the night — turned into high-end private coaching facilities for the elites. It is then quietly reopened during the evening when regular players depart, opening the facilities only to those who pay exorbitant amounts to the selective coaches, hence a clear "money-first, talent-later" system. This has raised eyebrows among ordinary athletes and further increased the class divide within the sports community in the province. Investigations uncover that the evening closure instructions are being brazenly defied. Security personnel stationed at the courts are said to remain mum — purportedly in fear or coercion...