CDWP considering resource constraints for development budget

Dated : 18 May 2022

The Central Development Working Party (CDWP) is considering resource constraint for the development budget following a rigid approach towards National Development Framework. The forum cleared four development projects worth Rs 71.4b during its meeting held on Wednesday.
The CDWP considered six projects under the chairmanship of Deputy Chairman Planning Commission Dr Mohammad Jahanzeb Khan. The meeting was attended by Additional Secretary, PD&SI, Secretary Ministry of Water Resources, Secretary Ministry of Health, Members Planning Commission and other key stakeholders.
The forum cleared World Bank’s funded project Punjab Resilient & Inclusive Agriculture Transformation (PRIAT) at total cost of Rs 58,815m and recommended to the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council. The project will be implemented throughout Punjab for a tenure of five years. The Phase-II of the project comprises of four major components which includes Community-driven Improvement of Water Conveyance & Application, Promotion of Climate Smart High Value Production, Regenerative Agriculture, Crop Diversification, Agriculture Value Addition & Inclusive Access to Market, Monitoring, Learning and Contingent Emergency Response Components.
The forum approved the Establishment of NIHD at total cost of Rs 7869.0m. The center will be a state-of-the-art preventive research and development center for Cardio Vascular Disease (CVD). It will introduce advanced modalities of community based preventive research and corresponding development of services / products aimed at reducing the disease burden in the society and therefore cost effective treatment of CVDs. The project will set forth a paradigm shift from therapeutics to prevention, thus reduction in the disease burden of CVDs in the society, within the overall domain of Non Communicable Diseases.
The forum also approved the Up-gradation of Nuclear Institute of Medicine & Radiotherapy (NIMRA), Jamshoro at total cost of Rs 1223.330m. NIMRA is the first Oncology & third Nuclear Medicine Institute of Pakistan, established in 1965 aimed to provide cancer related health care facilities to the residents of Distt. Jamshoro and its surrounding areas. NIMRA is providing diagnostic services (for various benign and malignant diseases) and treatment facilities (to the patients, suffering from deadly disease of Cancer) to population of approximately 18.5 million from more than 14 districts for more than 55 years, especially from interior Sindh, including Thatta, Badin, Tharparkar, Hyderabad, Nawabshah, Mirpurkhas and frontier areas of Bolouchistan with an area of 88,942 square km. The Institute is equipped with one Linear Accelerator unit, two Cobolt-60 units, a Conventional Simulator, a Single Head Gamma Camera, a Dual Head Gamma Camera, one Doppler Ultrasound unit, one Conventional Mammography and an X-Ray Unit.
The forum also cleared construction of Torawari Dam in district Hangu, KP at the original cost of Rs 3489.80m. Torawari Dam is a small dam designed to conserve storm run-off of Saroobi Algada for irrigation supplies to 7000 acres of land. Currently agriculture is practiced on a limited area i.e. 750 acre irrigated through Civil Channel. With the construction of Tora Wari Dam irrigation will be done on a larger area of 7000 acres. The dam will meet the irrigation needs of the command area. The construction of Torawari Dam; socio-economic conditions of the people in the project area would be improved by achieving the maximum benefits from irrigated agriculture and drinking water facility. The project envisages to achieve the following objectives which includes the conservation of available flood flows in the Nullah up to a storage capacity of 7369 acre-feet (gross) and 6323 acre feet live which will facilitate utilization of average annual flow 14,000 AF for irrigated agriculture.
The Deputy Chairman Planning Commission concluded that due to fiscal constraints and huge throwforward, the PSDP is being reviewed and rationalization is in process hence provincial nature projects are being shifted to respective governments. He further added that new projects will be included in the PSDP subject to the availability of funds. He therefore, requested the provincial members to create space in ADPs.