The Punjab Provincial Development Working Party (PPDWP) accorded approval to three development schemes of development sectors with an estimated cost of Rs 5744.754 million. These schemes were approved in the 34th meeting of Provincial Development Working Party (PDWP) of current fiscal year 2016-17, a spokesman of planning and development department, Punjab said, here Wednesday.
Provincial Secretary P&D Iftikhar Ali Sahoo, members of the Planning & Development Board, provincial secretaries concerned and other senior representatives of the relevant provincial departments also attended the meeting. The P&D spokesman said the approved development schemes included: health sector scheme of provision of missing specialities for up-gradation of DHQ Hospital to teaching hospital Gujranwala (Revised) at the cost of Rs 4596.002 million and the schemes of agriculture sector titled rainwater management in cotton fields to minimise impacts of climate change (pilot project) at the cost of Rs 99.960 million and establishment of sub-campus of Pir Mehr Ali Shah Arid Agriculture University Rawalpindi at Attock (Phase-II) at the cost of Rs 1048.792 million.
Official sources said Punjab government believed that equitable economic growth can only be achieved by diverting maximum resources to social sector including education and health, production sector comprising agriculture, livestock etc, provision of quality public services, building world class infrastructure, generating employment opportunities and protecting the vulnerable and marginalized of the province. The strategy for that accelerated economic growth and improved service delivery was people centric where the benefits of a strong economy must be felt by all, the sources added.
It may be noted that for health sector, an amount of Rs 207.3 billion had been allocated during FY2016-17. In primary and secondary healthcare sector, the focus is on revamping of all district headquarter hospitals and fifteen major tehsil headquarter hospital in Punjab.