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‘Sindh has utilised almost half of 60pc ADP released this year’

By Our Correspondent
February 23, 2018

The Sindh government has so far released Rs146.3 billion – some 60 per cent – of its Annual Development Programme budget during the ongoing financial year, half of which has already been utilised.

This was stated in the first budget preparatory meeting for financial year 2018-19 held at the CM House on Thursday with Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah in chair and P&D Chairman Mohammad Waseem, Principal Secretary Sohail Rajput and other officials in attendance.

The CM was told that some 2,974 schemes, including 2,158 ongoing and 816 new ones are in progress during the current fiscal year for which the ADP was set at Rs244 billion. Expressing satisfaction with the pace of development work, CM Shah it was better than last year but added that it must be monitored so that quality is maintained in all projects.

The chief minister was further told that in 2016-17 the provincial receipts rose to Rs159.2 billion, while during 2017-18, they are estimated to be Rs199.6 with the receipts of the first seven months coming up to around Rs100 billion so far.

Progress of service

The chief minister said at the meeting that the health department was showing some progress, particularly in hospitals which have been out-sourced. He added that this policy must be strengthened and more health units may be out-sourced in the next financial year.

Shah said his leadership [the Pakistan Peoples Party] has urged him to work on special programmes for women, youth and for poverty alleviation and told his team of officials that while drawing up the next budget, these priorities should be kept in mind. According to Shah, the number priority would be education, then health, water and sanitation and agriculture.

Since, it is a preliminary meeting, a sketch for the next budget is being discussed, but more such meetings would be held at least thrice in a month, he said. He told the officials at the meeting to control non-development expenditures, increase allocations in social sector such as education and health, and instructed them to give special focus to water schemes so that they could be completed well in time.