Tag: Psdp

The Government has released over Rs 151 billion for various development projects under Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP) 2016-17 up to 28th of last...

The New Islamabad International Airport (NIIA), having to support landing and parking of A-380, the biggest passenger aircraft in the world, would be fully...

The federal government has set aside at least Rs 49.5 billion under the Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP) in the fiscal year 2016-17 for...

A State Guest House will be constructed in the federal capital with an estimated cost of Rs 2 billion. The State Guest House, the first...

The government has allocated Rs 2221.061 million for the Federal Education and Professional Training Division for the Fiscal Year 2016-17 in the Public Sector...

  The federal government has allocated Rs 1109.249 million for 15 development projects of the Information Technology and Telecom Division in the Public Sector Development...

The government seems all set to deliver on its election promise of ridding the country of load shedding as it has allocated Rs 130...

Federal and provincial ministries had asked for Rs 1,800 billion; Work on Dasu and Diamer-Bhasha dams and western route of CPEC to start during...

  Parliamentary Secretary of Planning, Development and Reforms Saqlain Bukhari Thursday informed the National Assembly that funds have been allocated in Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP) for acquisition of land for western route of China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). Replying to a question, he said that the process of land acquisition for Havellian to D.I Khan motorway will start next year. He said that the $46 billion investment under CPEC would be allocated among three major sectors of the economy. The major chunk of $35 billion (77% of $46 billion) had been allocated to boost the energy sector while $9.5 billion and $1 billion (21% and 2%) will be spent on highways/railways and Gwadar respectively. He said that due to the nature of the investment, it was not possible to make an exact apportionment of the share of each province or territory. Energy projects are in Independent Power Producer (IPP) mode and outside public investment. He said that new Gwadar airport was part of CPEC, adding the construction work was expected to start by mid 2016. He said that Sukkur to Gwadar and Karachi to Gwadar railway line was also part of the long term plan of CPEC.

  Thousands of government employees hired in various Public Sector Development Programme (PSDPs) have been denied minimum wage as their salaries have remained static for the last seven years, Pakistan Today has learnt. Despite the setting of minimum wage at Rs 13,000 per month by Finance Minister Ishaq Dar in his budget speech, the ground reality for the PSDP workers is very different. Per details, employees are hired in PSDP for the duration of the projects undertaken by various government departments. The employees in grade 1-4 - majority of whom work as naib qasids, drivers, baildaars, cooks and peons in various projects - are receiving the minimum salary fixed for the year 2008. Most of them receive salaries ranging from Rs 7,000 to Rs 10,000. That is considerably less than the Rs 13,000 minimum wage set by the government in the 2015-16 budget. Claiming credit for ensuring welfare of the masses, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar said at the time: "For the welfare of the labour class and in line with increase in the pay of government employees, the minimum wage rate is being increased from Rs 12,000 to Rs 13,000 per month." While historically, it has been the private sector which has flouted the provisions for minimum wage in a bid to pay its lower staff meagre salaries for full-time work, it appears that the government has joined the club that pays starvation wages to their low-level employees as the staff hired in grade 1-4 for the execution of PSDP projects are getting paid as per the office memorandum issued in August 2008. Discussion has often surrounded whether the minimum wage can even sustain a typical family, with study after study showing that this is not the case. So, it is even more disappointing to learn that the government is abdicating its responsibility to ensure even the minimum wage for thousands of workers working in public sector projects of Defence, Finance, Industries, Information, Interior, Law, Justice and Human rights, Telecom, National Health, Development Division, Ports and Shipping and Railways. A source privy to the developments told Pakistan Today that despite constant reminders to Finance Ministry about the plight of the hapless workers, they have done nothing. The concerned departments have reminded the AGPR's Office time and time again to take action in this regard but their pleas have been met with a typical "we can't do anything". Additionally, the 5% annual increment does not apply to many of the PSDP projects as most of them are completed within one year. The 18th amendment has devolved the subject of labor to provinces and the federal government is using this development as a cover to shield itself from the responsibility of implementing its own wage standards for which it has claimed credit numerous times. "The subject of ‘labour’ has been devolved to provinces since the 18th amendment. Thus it doesn’t come under Ministry of Finance,’ said Additional Secretary and spokesperson of the Ministry of Finance Dr Shujjat Ali. When asked how it was possible that the federal government was taking no responsibility to keep track of the provinces' performance in this regard, he said: "You should contact Ministry of Human Resource Development, they can answer your queries." When Pakistan Today contacted Ministry of Human Resource Development Deputy Secretary Iftikhar Ahmed to find out what his Ministry was doing in this matter, he said: "Now, since Labour has been devolved, every province has a labour ministry which regulates and makes sure that minimum wage law is being followed, be it a public institution or a private project. In Islamabad, the Department of Labour under the Ministry of Interior sees to it that the minimum wage law is being followed by public and private entities." Legally binding minimum wage is now a universally acknowledged and widely used method employed to regulate the labour market. Pakistan is a member of International Labour Organisation (ILO). The federal government has to make sure that a fair remuneration is offered to every worker whether they are in the public or the private sector.

The government of Pakistan released Rs 11.593 billion for National Highway Authority (NHA) under the Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP) till October 30. According to...

Says development projects must be completed within the stipulated time, but without cutting any corners Reviews progress of all infrastructure projects; expresses satisfaction over completion...

Sources say allocation from PSDP will create hindrances for the government, as giving an unprecedented favour to a Chinese contract can lead to similar...

With the government focusing on expensive infrastructural projects such as Islamabad Metro Bus Project and now the Orange Line in Lahore, National Counter Terrorism Authority (NACTA), which does not even have the basic staffing required for functioning, is continuing to await government’s attention.

Finance Minister Ishaq Dar will brief the federal cabinet on the budgetary targets, development programme and taxation proposals for the next financial year in the capital on Tuesday (today).

A parliamentary panel on Wednesday unanimously asked the government to negotiate better terms with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for taking growth measures in the upcoming budget to revive the manufacturing sector to achieve 5.5 percent GDP growth target set for the next fiscal year.

Iqbal says Rs 250 billion allocated only for LNG based power projects Identification of SEZs location along CPEC to be identified in three months Minister for...