Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Senior Minister for Local Government, Elections and Rural Development, Inayatullah Khan has reaffirmed support and resolve on behalf of the provincial government for the Community-Driven Local Development (CDLD) related programme initiatives.
The Senior Minister chaired the progress review meeting of the CDLD which was attended by the Secretary and other senior officers of the Local Government, Elections and Rural Development Department. Commissioner Malakand, District Nazims of the CDLD pilot areas, representative of the Pakistan Army and CDLD programme team members attended the meeting.
During the progress review meeting, it was recognised that the CDLD policy implementation had made significant strides forward since November 2015 when the Policy Implementation Unit for CDLD was established in the Local Government, Elections and Rural Development Department.
"We are committed to the cause of serving our citizens and that is why CDLD implementation remains one of the key priorities of the provincial government," the Senior Minister stated. The Senior Minister was briefed that total number of approved projects were 562, out of which, 192 project agreements have already been signed.
Some implementation level challenges also came under discussion for immediate resolution. The meeting called for further speeding up efforts against the proposal development and project approval processes. It was agreed by the participants to expedite these processes so that the goal of 1795 projects for the FY 2015-16 could be achieved.
The participants also stressed the importance of stronger co-ordination and cooperation for implementation effectiveness. On the topic of involving elected local representatives in CDLD policy implementation, the Senior Minister informed that a working paper has been drafted for discussion and deliberation of the stakeholders. "We are aware of the significance of community participation and citizen empowerment to ensure a strong local governance system in the province. Therefore, it is our foremost priority to ensure the successful implementation of the CDLD policy in Malakand Division as a pilot which can then be expanded to other regions of the province," concluded the Senior Minister.