LAHORE:Punjab Chief Minister Sardar Usman Buzdar has said that the Punjab government has ring-fenced District Development Package worth Rs. 360 billion for the uniform development of each district.
Through the District Development Package, the resources have been diverted to the backward areas, he said adding that for the first time in the history of Punjab, special funds have been allocated for the backward areas. The government will ensure the composite development of each district as the government was making sincere efforts to remove the deprivations and backwardness of remote areas.
Addressing a public gathering after the inaugurations and foundation stone laying ceremonies by Prime Minister Imran Khan in Mianwali, the chief minister said the PTI government has made a huge increase of Rs. 85 billion in Annual Development Programme (ADP) 2021-22. This extraordinary increase has taken the overall volume of ADP of Punjab to Rs. 645 billion, said a handout issued here.
This volume will reach Rs. 740 billion if PSDP was also included. No government has ever given such a huge development budget in the history of Punjab and this will start a new era of development in the province.
He termed Sehat Insaaf Card a remarkable initiative that will ensure the provision of quality healthcare facilities free of cost to every citizen of the province. He said that work has already been started to provide one lakh jobs on merit in Punjab. The PTI government has completed public welfare-oriented projects in its short span of three years which the former governments failed to do.
There were only seven universities in the past whereas the PTI government has set up 21 universities in the last three years. Similarly, only 1500 schools were upgraded in the past while the present government has upgraded 27,000 schools, he added.
There was only 12 cement factories in the province while the incumbent government has issued NOC to 16 more cement factories out of these three cement factories will be set up in Mianwali, he maintained. There were only three special economic zones in the past while the PTI government has established 13 special economic zones in Punjab. He further added that under Prime Minister’s Package-I, development projects of worth Rs. 25.91 billion have been completed in Mianwali. Whereas, under Prime Minister’s Package-II, work on 844 development schemes has been started. He said that several development projects have been inaugurated and the foundation stone has been laid, today. Rs 2.17 billion will be spent on the upgradation of 39 km long Kala Bagh Shaker Dara road. Similarly, 200-bed Mother and Child Hospital was being speedily completed in Mianwali.
Moreover, Rs. 2 billion were being spent on the upgradation of DHQ Hospital. He said that Balksar-Mianwali-Muzaffargarh Road was being completed at a sum of Rs. 13.5 billion which will prove to be a lifeline for the residents of the area. He thanked Prime Minister Imran Khan for the construction and repair project of 237 km long MM Road.
He said that the Punjab cabinet has approved the new Local Government Act. He said that the new system would resolve the people’s problems at their doorsteps and the fruits of development would reach at the grass-root level. There will be an upper-level council that will make all the decisions in Mianwali. The people of Mianwali will themselves elect their representatives.