Sindh Chief Minister (CM) Syed Qaim Ali Shah presided over a meeting regarding activities, functioning and progress of the Planning & Development (P&D) Department held at the CM House on Thursday.
The CM directed the P&D Department to evolve a strategy for identifying and initiating those development schemes that are to be completed earlier than others.
He stressed that those schemes that are in hand should be completed within the remaining one-and-a-half years of the present government.
He said that 50,000 plots are to be developed to be distributed among the poorest of the poor people of the province under the directives of President Asif Ali Zardari.
He also said that instead of continuing old and outdated schemes of water supply, the schemes must be initiated and completed with the latest and innovative systems.
He further said that the road network should be improved in various districts, particularly in those districts that have been affected by rains and floods.
The CM said that the physical progress of the ongoing schemes be briefed to him, and a meeting of the lined departments would be held soon to see the factual progress.
Earlier, P&D Additional Chief Secretary (ACS) Muhammad Ishaq Lashari presented a detailed briefing of part-II of the various schemes of the province.
He said that there are 600 ongoing schemes across the province and a major portion of the buildings are close to completion.
He also said that an amount of Rs 66 billion has been earmarked for the schemes under the special initiative unit.
He further said that the schemes under the Union Council Based Poverty Reduction Programme for the districts of Kashmore, Shikarpur, Jacobabad and Tharparkar are underway, whereas schemes worth Rs 4 billion for the flood-affected villages and towns’ rehabilitation have also been initiated that are being monitored by a steering committee.
Besides, he added, rural revitalisation initiatives have also been proposed, for which the CM said that further progress be made in this regard.
The ACS said that Women Development Centres are being established in Larkana, Khairpur and Mirpurkhas at the cost of Rs 1 billion.
He said that special development packages have been initiated for Sukkur, Larkana, Hyderabad, Karachi, Shaheed Benazirabad, Lyari, Malir and Keti Bunder.
The CM said that a meeting would be held to discuss and finalise the status of these schemes, and it would be attended among others by district coordination officers of the respective districts.
The meeting was informed that under the CM’s directives during 2008-2009 to 2011-2012, 3,197 schemes out of 7,151 have been completed.
According to details, 2,985 schemes out of 5,839 were completed in the year 2008-09, 160 out of 807 in the year 2009-2010, and 32 schemes out of 505 were completed in the year 2010-2011.
In all, Rs 90 billion were earmarked and an amount of Rs 42.72 billion was spent with a balance of Rs 47.28 billion.
The meeting was also informed that the CM would perform groundbreaking ceremony of the development work at Mundh Jamrao after Eidul Fitr.
Other matters were also discussed in the meeting, which was attended by Chief Secretary Raja Muhammad Abbas, Secretary to CM Alamdin Bullo, and various sectional heads of the P&D Department.
