Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah on Saturday vowed that the Annual Development Programme (ADP) for the province in the upcoming budget will be welfare-oriented with schemes focusing on containing the pandemic, reviving the economy, reducing poverty, and empowering women.
Shah, who has retained the finance portfolio himself, made the remarks over a meeting he chaired to finalise the ADP for the financial year 2021-22 at the CM House.
The meeting was attended by provincial ministers, Chief Secretary Mumtaz Shah, Chairperson Planning and Development Shireen Narejo, Principal Secretary to Chief Minister (PSCM) Sajid Jamal Abro, Finance Secretary Hassan Naqvi and secretaries of different departments.
The chief minister, while giving the final touch ups to the next ADP, directed all departments to complete those on-going schemes for which they have received 100% funding.
“The schemes on which 50% funds have been utilised would be given priority for completion in the next budget,” said Shah.
He said that the pandemic has hit the economy hard, therefore poverty has increased. “We will launch community development programmes to reduce poverty, and relief will be given to small businessmen for revival of their business,” Shah assured the meeting’s participants.
Talking about the upcoming projects, the chief minister said that they would establish infectious disease hospitals in other divisional headquarters as well by allocating funds for it in the upcoming budget.
He said that in the rural areas, apart from development of agriculture sector, schemes would be launched to promote fisheries and livestock development.
Murad directed all the departments to sit with Planning and Development Department to finalise their development priorities so that the portfolio could be finalised for budget 2021-22.
Separately, Murad gave the approval to launch a Rs4 billion Solar Home System (SHS) scheme with the help of the World Bank in 10 districts of the province.
Murad Ali Shah also approved a Rs4 billion Solar Home System (SHS) being launched with the assistance of the World Bank in 10 districts from next month.
He accorded this approval while presiding over a meeting of the energy department. The meeting was attended by Minister Energy Imtiaz Shaikh, Chief Secretary Mumtaz Shah, Chairperson P&D Shireen Narejo, PSCM Sajid Jamal Abro, Secretary Finance Hassan Naqvi, Secretary Health KazimJatoi, Secretary Energy Tariq Shah, PD SHS Shah Zaman Khuhro and other concerned.
Briefing the chief minister,Imtiaz Shaikh said that the Rs4 billion Solar Home System has been developed with the assistance of the World Bank.
Under the plan, 20,000 households would be given SHS in 10 different districts of the province with a 50 percent subsidy.
The recipient to the SHS would have to pay 50 percent to the vendor while the remaining 50 percent would be paid by the government.
The 10 districts selected by the government include Badin, Ghotki, Jacobabad, Kashmore, Khairpur, Qambar-Shahdadkot, Sanghar, Tharparkar, Sujawal and Umerkot, Imtiaz Shaikh said and added the prequalification of the SHS supplier/vendor has been selected in two districts, Sanghar and Khairpur.
