Youth skill development, value addition to livestock and dairy sectors, development projects in less developed areas and a focus on transparency and growth are the hallmark of the Annual Development Programme 2014-15, as discussed in a review meeting chaired by Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif on Monday.
The chief minister set a target for 8 per cent growth in the province over the next four years. “Besides improving the standard of living through expeditious development and comprehensive reforms, we will also focus on the development of less developed areas,” he said.
Special attention will be paid to skill development, the chief minister said. “There are 20 million youth in the province and we must plan to empower them through skill development programmes over the next four years,” he said. With the youth comprising more than 60 per cent of the population, skill development programmes could help empower them by making them self-reliant. At least 50 per cent of the skill development programmes should target women so they could play a practical role for the progress and prosperity of the country, he added.
Sharif said the government had initiated several development and welfare programmes to improve the standard of living and accelerate development in less developed areas.
With the aim of strengthening the provincial economy,
The chief minister emphasised transparent utilisation of funds to “strengthen the economic foundations of the province” and said the government had set realistic targets for the 2014-25 ADP.
He said provincial departments must set short- and long-term targets as well as an effective mechanism to achieve them. The chief minister also set up a high-level committee, headed by the energy additional chief secretary, to ensure speedy implementation of the skill development programme. He directed the committee to submit its recommendations at the earliest.
Sharif also stressed the need to pay attention to value addition in the livestock and dairy development sectors. He said highlighted the need to work hard to achieving the growth target and ensure professionalism in departments associated with social sectors.
The chief minister said most of the province’s resources would be directed towards public welfare and schemes aimed at the masses’ welfare would be completed on priority and the performance of all departments monitored on a regular basis.
Ending load shedding
Sharif said that overcoming the energy crisis was essential for trade and industrial activities and in order to resolve poverty and unemployment. He was presiding over a meeting to review progress on energy projects.
Sharif said ridding people of load shedding was the government’s mission as the energy crisis had badly affected the education, industry, agriculture and health sectors. Sharif said collective efforts were needed to overcome the electricity shortage. He said a 1,000-megawatt power project was to be set up at the Quaid-e-Azam Solar Park in Bahawalpur, and 100 megawatts out of that would be online by December. He said the Punjab government had taken a lead with the first solar project in the country and a number of coal-based power generation projects were expeditiously going ahead with China’s cooperation. He said the foundation stone for two coal-powered plants with a combined capacity of 1320 megawatts would be laid in Sahiwal this month. He said work was going on around the clock on the Nandipur power project, which would be inaugurated by the end of the May.
Sharif directed the departments concerned to finish upgrading the grid and transmission lines along with the execution of the power projects.
He said this would prevent hurdles in the supply of electricity to the national grid. He said federal and provincial departments should work in collaboration to complete the energy projects expediently.
Federal Minister for Water and Power Khawaja Muhammad Asif was also present on the occasion and said the solar power projects would be greatly help overcome the electricity shortage.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 13th, 2014.