The Punjab government has allocated Rs 43.44 billion for the Annual Development Programme (ADP) 2004-05 with main focus on accelerating economic growth, poverty alleviation, and consolidation of existing physical and social infrastructure.
The ADP 2004-05 is eight percent higher than the revised budget estimates and 42 percent than the original development budget of the year 2003-04. Break-up shows that Rs 34.70 billion would come from provincial resources while Rs 8.74 billion would be arranged through foreign aid programmes.
According to the budget document, out of this amount Rs 34.44 billion have been allocated for provincial programme and Rs nine billion for the district programme. There is no change in the allocation for the district programme as compared to last year.
Through this, the government aimed at to improve public service delivery in education, health and water and sanitation sectors and enhanced coverage. New infrastructural development through public-private partnership is another objective of the ADP for the year 2004-05.
Guiding principle of the ADP is higher sectoral allocations than the current year, pro-poor investment, maximum allocation to ongoing schemes to avoid cost/time over run, adequate counterpart funding for foreign assisted projects, allocation to integrated development projects in comparatively less privileged areas and containment of throw forward at a reasonable level.
Salient features of the ADP 2004-05 are that 30 percent of its total allocation goes to the social sectors. Around 37 percent of the development outlay have been allocated for infrastructure development programme. Out of the total 1,117 schemes included in the Annual Development Programme, 622 ie, 57 percent of schemes are expected to be completed in the next fiscal.
The average per scheme allocation is Rs 20.33 million. The ratio of allocation of funds in the ADP between northern and southern regions comes to 57:43 and the allocation to the pro-poor sector is Rs 23.24 billion, which is 53.5 percent.
In social sector, the government would launch Chief Minister''s Accelerated Programme for Social Development through which an additional resource of Rs 2.8 billion will be invested in these sectors. All administrative departments would prepare medium term plans in the social sectors, which will identify targets, gaps, priorities and service standards.
The departments would be responsible for developing guidelines to be followed by Local Governments and to develop monitoring/regulatory mechanism to ensure adherence to policy, quality, equity and sustainability in the delivery of services.
The major thrust in industrial development would be on promoting private sector growth and public sector investment to focus on Small and Medium Scale Enterprises with a view to upgrading and providing infrastructure.
For agriculture development the main thrust of ADP will be on raising the level and efficacy of public expenditures, modernising wholesale markets, benefiting from innovation in research and extension, and support to private sector.
In order to improve the economic infrastructure, the focus will be on consolidation, rehabilitation and modernisation of existing infrastructure with a view to bringing about a tangible improvement in the delivery of services. Continuation and deepening of the institutional and organisational reforms that are already underway in the irrigation and power department.
The programme emphasises on policy and plan for the road network expansion for the medium term ie three to five years.
The vision of providing every village in the province access to a metalled road will move a step closer with the launching of the Chief Minister''s Accelerated Programme for Infrastructure Development. An amount of Rs two billion has been provided for the purpose through the provincial ADP.