CS directs early utilisation of ADP funds

LAHORE: Punjab Chief Secretary Kamran Ali Afzal has directed all the government departments to ensure timely utilisation of funds and transparency in development schemes. He issued these directions to the officers concerned while chairing a meeting at the Planning and Development (P&D) Board to review the implementation of the annual development programme (ADP) worth Rs560 billion. The chief secretary stated that an efficient monitoring system was key to timely and transparent use of public funds. He stated progress on the development projects would be reviewed regularly. He directed the officers to keep an eye on quality and pace work on all the schemes. He said that the departments should identify the obstacles in the way of development projects so that these could be removed as soon as possible. He appreciated the efforts of the P&D Board for timely approval of development schemes. He said that the performance of the departments in terms of utilisation of funds in the ADP 2020-21 was remarkable.

P&D Secretary Mujahid Sher Dil briefed the meeting about the allocated funds, their release and utilisation. Out of the 4676 unapproved schemes, 4,259 schemes have been approved, and Rs205 billion out of total Rs560 have been released. He said the provincial government had allocated 35 percent of the annual development programme for South Punjab while it earmarked Rs54.2 billion for education and Rs95.9 billion for the health sector.