New scheme proposed to regulate seminaries across the country. DESIGN: CREATIVE COMMON
The Annual Plan Coordination Committee (APCC) on Monday cleared a Rs1.310 trillion-national development programme for the new fiscal year and proposed a scheme to regulate seminaries across the country in order to discourage extremism.
Headed by Ahsan Iqbal, the Federal Minister for Planning, Development and Reforms also approved a project for standardisation of curriculums and examinations aimed at addressing another cause of inequality in education.
The centre has also earmarked Rs36 billion for bringing an end to disparities in development among the provinces. Punjab will not receive any funds out of the poor, however a major chunk of Rs15 billion will go to Balochistan, said Iqbal.
The federal development programme also includes projects that offer better education and job opportunities for children belonging to less privileged households.
The national development budget of Rs1.310 trillion is the highest in the country’s history, said Iqbal after the APCC meeting.
Of that, Rs1.175 trillion will be financed by the taxpayers. The remaining Rs135 billion will be arranged by corporations from their own resources and having no bearing on the budgets, the minister added.
The PSDP has been aligned to achieve the objectives in the Vision 2025 which provides a long term development roadmap to create globally competitive and prosperous country by raising standard of living in both the urban and rural areas, said Iqbal.
The federal PSDP has been proposed at Rs525 billion while the four provinces’ development budget is estimated at Rs650 billion. The total national development budget was Rs1.155 trillion in the outgoing fiscal year, ending on June 30.
One-fifth of the federal Rs525 billion will be financed by borrowing Rs102 billion from foreign sources. The proposed PSDP is Rs15 billion less than the original budget of this year but significantly higher than the anticipated spending of Rs350 billion in the outgoing fiscal.
Similarly, another Rs650 billion have been proposed for the Annual Development Plans, up by Rs35 billion over original budget of the outgoing year.
The APCC also approved for the first time ‘National Human Development Endowment Fund’ for the enhancement of available human resource in the country.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 27th, 2014.
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1732643921-0/4548774-1403918848-(1)1732643921-0-270x192.webp "pakistan to strengthen naval defence with its first frigate sized warship")
Most will end up in the pockets of corrupt politicians like the Sharifs.