S Punjab to have separate ADP: CM

Says financial autonomy will accelerate pace of development in both regions

LAHORE:

The provincial government has announced the preparation of a separate Annual Development Pogramme (ADP) for South Punjab for the upcoming fiscal year.

For the first time in history, Punjab will present twoADP in the provincial budget.

Punjab Chief Minister Sardar Usman Buzdar has announced that from now on, the ADP of South Punjab will be prepared separately. Funds allocated and released for South Punjab will only be utilised for development and prosperity of the people of the region.

Financial autonomy through separate allocations will accelerate the pace of development and provide facilities the people of South Punjab, he maintained.

Buzdar claimed that Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI)-led government had returned the right of development and progress to the people of South Punjab. “The setting up of South Punjab Secretariat is a clear proof of this. The budget of South Punjab will be ring-fenced contrary to the practices of the previous governments.”

He directed officials concerned that under the ADP, development and welfare schemes should be completed within the stipulated time frame.

The chief minister further said that development projects had been launched for the welfare and betterment of the citizens. “Therefore, transparency and timely completion of these projects is of utmost important. The government is the custodian of peoples’ hard-earned money so embezzlement and irregularities in these projects will not be tolerated.”

The provincial government will encourage the government officials who will deliver and those who fail to perform their duties will be chided, the CM asserted.

Buzdar warned that he will not tolerate corruption, laxity and negligence in the schemes. “The government’s policy of zero tolerance against corruption will continue.”

He called for ensuring timely utilisation of funds released for development projects. “Those departments will be questioned which will fail in timely utilisation of development funds.”

He stressed the need of an effective monitoring system for the timely utilisation of development funds. He directed officers to go out in the field and personally monitor the progress of development schemes. He asked them to focus on the standard and quality of the development schemes.

Buzdar, while giving instructions to speed up the work on development projects, said, “The time of paying lip service to the genuine needs of the people is gone. The incumbent government, during the past two and a half years, has rectified the mistakes of previous governments. The rulers of previous rulers misused the funds of South Punjab for the development and progress of other areas.”

The PTI-led government had launched real development projects instead of pomp and show and starting projects for self-projection, the CM claimed. “Former rulers intentionally kept the people of South Punjab backward and below the poverty line. They befooled and hoodwinked the people of South Punjab in the name of development.”

 

Published in The Express Tribune, May 17^th, 2021.