‘Next ADP to focus on containing Covid, reviving economy’

Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah has said that the next Annual Development Programme (ADP) of his government would be public welfare-oriented in which projects to contain the Covid-19 pandemic, revive the economy, reduce poverty and empower women would be launched.

This he said during a meeting that he had presided over to finalise the provincial development programme for the next financial year 2021-22 at the CM House on Saturday.

The chief executive, giving final touch-ups to the next ADP, told the provincial departments that they must complete their ongoing projects that have been provided with 100 per cent funding. “The projects on which 50 per cent funds have been used will be given priority for their completion in the next budget.”

The CM said that the pandemic has hit the economy hard, so poverty has increased. “We will launch community development programmes to reduce poverty, as relief will be given to small businessmen.”

He said that the containment of the Covid-19 pandemic would be given priority in the next budget’s development projects. “We are going to establish infectious diseases hospitals in other divisional headquarters as well [after establishing the first such hospital in Karachi],” he said, adding that the entire population of the province would be vaccinated to secure them.

Shah said that during the last one and a half years of the coronavirus pandemic, the education sector has suffered a lot. “We will launch a project to modernise the education system so that educational activities can continue without any interruptions.”

The CM said that in the rural areas, apart from development of the agriculture sector, projects would be launched to promote fisheries and livestock development. “We will encourage people in the rural areas to involve themselves in fisheries and livestock, which have better returns against a smaller investment.”

He was told that the Sindh Technical Education & Vocation Training Authority has nine ongoing projects, the women development department two, the culture & tourism department five, the home department 14, the services general administration & coordination department 23, the industries department two, the livestock department seven, the fisheries department five, the minorities department one, the mass transit department six, the law & parliamentary affairs department eight and the sports & youth affairs department three.

The CM directed all the provincial departments to focus on the completion of the ongoing projects in the next financial year. He directed the transport minister to speed up the completion of the Orange, Yellow and Red lines of the bus rapid transit service in Karachi. Shah directed all the departments to sit with the planning & development department to finalise their development priorities so that the next development portfolio could be finalised for the budget 2021-22.