Punjab Planning & Development Department with the technical assistance from UK's Department for International Development (DFID) funded Sub-National Governance Programme organised a workshop on the formulation of Punjab Annual Development Plan (ADP) 2016-17 and operationalizing Punjab Economic Growth Strategy 2014-18, here on Monday.
Many senior planning officers from various departments including P&D, Health, Education, Livestock & Dairy Development, Mines and Mineral, Information & Culture, LG&CD, Punjab Economic Research Institute and others participated in the workshop. The workshop involved presenting Government of Punjab development priorities ie Punjab Growth Strategy 2014-2018 to departments, including health, education, agriculture, industries, etc for their guidance and for development of projects that best corresponded to the government's commitment to achieve provincial growth of 7 to 6 percent, create job opportunities for 1 million people, provide skills to 2 million youth and to deliver quality public services to the citizens of Punjab.
Dr Ijaz Nabi, Advisor to CM Punjab while discussing operationalization of Punjab Economic Growth Strategy 2014-18 said that the design of the ADP should be one that attracts the private investment, which is the heart of Punjab Economic Growth Strategy. He also highlighted that sustainable development goals were important as benchmarks to measure our development gains. He further explained that social cohesion had also been anchored in the Strategy and advised the participants to develop their development interventions while keeping Punjab Economic Growth Strategy in view. Secretary P&D Department, Iftikhar Sahoo, introduced the participants to the changing planning paradigm and imperatives for ADP 2016-17.
He also advised the participants to utilise the opportunity to discuss issues and concerns with other colleagues, especially those from the Finance Department, on operational issues and challenges being faced by the officials during development, implementation and management of development projects.
He also stressed the need to learn from last year's development projects and build on those to achieve greater results and value for the money that the government is spending on the development of the province. Hamed Yaqoob Sheikh, team lead for UK's DFID Sub-National Governance Programme, also appreciated the participants for demonstrating their seriousness for the planning exercise.
He informed the participants that SNG had supported P&D Department in updating the Punjab Planning Manual and ADP Guidelines to make these documents relevant and effective, as guides, for development planners.
He reaffirmed continuation of SNG's support for improving planning and development capacities in P&DD and line departments. Faisal Rasheed, PFM Advisor, SNG explained Punjab government vision for 2018 and described the commitments that were required from departments for successful execution of the growth strategy. Secretary P&D Department articulated some of the issues and challenges faced by the P&D, Finance and other provincial department in the development, implementation and management of development funds.
He further emphasised the need to bring greater planning capacities in line-departments to identify and develop development projects that were aligned with the Economic Growth Strategy. The delay in the approval and award of development schemes is also one of the major issues that undermined the desired outcomes of the development programmes in Punjab.
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