Ecnec okays 11 uplift schemes worth Rs470bn

ISLAMABAD: The Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (Ecnec) under the Chairmanship of Finance Minister Ishaq Dar on Wednesday approved 11 development schemes of approximately Rs470 billion, including Prime Minister’s Laptop Scheme with estimated cost of Rs10.827 billion.

The Ecnec approved the National Development Internship Programme, which is in line with the vision of the prime minister to mainstream the youth and involve them in national development. The programme aims to enhance the capacity of young Pakistanis in their relevant educational areas and enhance their practical and technical skills and provide opportunity to introduce fresh ideas in the development sector of Pakistan. The expenditure of the programme will be met from the development projects being implemented under PSDP.

The Planning Commission submitted a summary on the Indus Highway (N-55) additional carriage project. The Ecnec considered and allowed 15% of procurement for one of the four components of the project in US dollars as per ADB guidelines. The project was already approved by the Ecnec on 1st October, 2022 at cost of Rs44,703.89 million with ADB share of Rs40,233.50 million.

The Ecnec considered and approved the “Construction of Northern Section of Ring Road (Missing Link) from Warsak Road to Nasir Bagh Road” project at the rationalised/reduced cost of Rs17,139.007 million without any FEC, fully funded by government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The project envisages construction of six-lane Northern Section of Peshawar Ring Road from Warsak Road to Nasir Bagh Road with total length of 7.8 kms. There will be 2 lane service road on each side of the Ring Road.

The Ecnec also considered and approved provincial project named “Construction of Gravity Flow Water Supply Scheme Mansehra” at a cost of Rs18,583.41 million, to be executed by government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The project aims at provision of gravity flow potable water supply system for Mansehra city to fulfil the present and future needs up to 2040. The project on its completion will provide the required potable water supply facilities to the population of 201,249 persons for the desired period.

The Ecnec approved PC-1 of “Post-Flood 2022 Reconstruction Plan: Resilience, Enhancement and Livelihood Diversification in Balochistan” project at a total cost of Rs88,000 million funded by the World Bank. Federal government and Government of Balochistan through Federal PMU and Project Implementation Unit will execute the project to support, finance and incentivise Post-Flood reconstruction, resilience enhancement and livelihood diversification initiatives with focus on flood-ravaged and resource constrained province of Balochistan.

The Ecnec approved Special Development Initiatives for Backward/Poor Districts in the country at a cost of Rs40 billion on 50:50 basis between the federal and provincial governments. The project aims to support interventions to bring noticeable change in social and economic fabric of these districts.

The Ecnec approved Overseas Scholarship for MS/MPhil leading to PhD in selected fields (Phase-III) at a cost of Rs22,214.578 million with FEC Rs21,402.142 million to give chances to young Pakistani scholars to pursue higher education at some of the world’s leading universities.

The Ecnec approved Prime Minister’s Youth Laptop Scheme-HEC (Phase-III) at a cost of Rs10,827.28 million in order to provide an opportunity to young and talented students studying in public sector higher education institutes across the country, including AJK and GB. Under the envisaged Phase-III project, 100K laptops would be distributed among meritorious students in two years.

The Ecnec approved a project on provision of Higher Education Opportunities for students of Balochistan & erstwhile Fata (Phase-III) at a cost of Rs8,663.350 million with aim to provide equal education opportunities to talented students of disadvantaged areas to bring them at par with developed and developing areas of the country, creating a core of talented and qualified manpower. The Ecnec considered and approved Sindh Human Capital Investment: 1,000 days-Integrated Health and Population programme at a total cost of Rs61,600 million including foreign funds of Rs55,000.058 million by the World Bank to improve utilisation and quality of reproductive, maternal, neonatal, child and adolescent health and nutrition services and women economic empowerment through skill development and micro financing to a target population of 9.7 million in selected districts of the Sindh province. The Ecnec also approved the Flood Response Emergency Housing Project at rationalised cost of Rs160,000 million, including World Bank loan of $500 million to support the flood-affected people in all districts of Sindh in the climate resilient reconstruction & repairs of their houses and helping them overcome the misery and trouble inflicted upon them during the recent rain disaster.