Federal Minister for Planning Development and Special Initiatives, Ashan Iqbal last week officially launched Pakistan’s pioneering PSDP portal, country’s official news agency reported.
For the first time in the country’s history, the data of Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP) projects (ongoing and previous year) worth Rs 1.1 trillion has been made available at the PSDP portal which has been formally launched for the citizens to ensure transparency.
The event was attended by the Additional Secretary Planning Ministry, Members Planning Commission, the Chairman of Pakistan Space & Upper Atmosphere Research Commission SUPARCO and other stakeholders, said a press release.
It is noted that the PSDP, which constitutes the Federal Development Budget, serves as a crucial framework for the government’s development agenda, setting sectoral and regional priorities under the national plan.
This strategic move aims to harness the potential of digital technologies to enhance transparency, improve governance, and promote public awareness of the government’s development course and priorities.
Through the digital platform, citizens will have greater insight into the development projects being undertaken across the country.
It enables them to understand the objectives, scope, and impact of each project, promoting public engagement and participation
Ahsan Iqbal termed this initiative a ‘landmark’ in the country’s history which will ensure transparency in the PSDP projects while engaging the citizens directly through this portal.
“The initiative will help to eliminate the trust deficit between the state and citizens which remained weak in the past, remarked the minister, while highlighting several initiatives taken by the incumbent government since it came into power in April 2020.
The Planning Ministry has recently launched ‘5Es framework for the country’s development while focusing on Exports, Energy E- Pakistan, Environment and Equity. This vital step towards digitalization aligns with the vision of e-Pakistan under the ‘5Es Framework to Turnaround Pakistan’ and underscores the commitment of the Planning Ministry to leverage technology for the betterment of our nation,” remarked the Minister.
Member Governance, Innovation & Reforms at Planning Commission, Dr Adnan Rafiq who took this initiative, under the vision of Planning Minister Ahsan Iqal highlighted the key features of the project.
“The portal displays data on all ongoing PSDP Projects which are also accessible to every citizen as the Ministry has already established a Champions of Reforms Network to seek input from citizens in reviewing and evaluating project proposals under PSDP,” explained Dr Rafiq.
It is noted that the online portal provides an interactive map interface, allowing users to visualize the geographical spread of projects. The users can search for projects by location, view project profiles, and gain a comprehensive understanding of the development initiatives in specific areas.
Chairman SUPARCO Maj General Amer Nadeem while appreciating the Planning Ministry for taking this important step believed that space technology and its applications play a pivotal role in achieving national development goals worldwide.
“Geospatial technologies are a powerful tool that has the potential to revolutionise the way we make decisions, thereby saving time and resources and inspiring transparency.
Tag Archives: Public Sector Development Program (PSDP).
Budget 2018-19: Sindh intends to spend Rs252 bn on development
Sindh will have an amount of Rs 252 billion for its Annual Development Program (ADP) for the next fiscal year of 2018-19, showing a marginal 3.28 percent increase over the last year’s budget.
Of the total development outlay, nearly 80 percent of the proposed development allocation is aimed to spend on ongoing development schemes. This makes it a sum of Rs.Rs 202 billion, said CM Murad Ali Shah who has presented around 6 provincial budgets in the house. The new schemes—the rest 20 percent—would be taken care of by the new government after 2018 elections.
In addition, an amount of Rs30 billion has been allocated for districts development program normally called as districts’ ADP. The provincial government intends to release 25 percent of the development budget for ongoing schemes in the first quarter (July-September 2018) to ensure continuity in development activities.
Shah claimed the total development outlay for Sindh is Rs 343.90 billion, of which, Rs 282 billion will be funded from provincial budget, Rs 46.89 billion from foreign projects assistance (FPA) and Rs 15.02 billion will be provided by the federal government under Public Sector Development Program (PSDP).
The development program includes Rs 24.4 billion for 309 ongoing schemes related to education (primary, secondary, tertiary, special and technical education).
A sum of Rs 12.5 billion has been allocated for 169 schemes of health departments.
Moreover, an allocation of Rs 7.5 billion would be available for 79 schemes of agriculture, livestock and fisheries departments. Also, subsidy assistance to farmers for purchase of tractors, implements and solar water tube wells would continue.
Besides, Rs 5.76 billion will be provided through two foreign-aided projects to increase agricultural productivity of small farmers. The government has allocated Rs 28 billion for 248 ongoing schemes of irrigation department, including underlining of main canals to reduce water losses and control water logging and salinity.
Moreover Rs 27.9 billion has been earmarked for 394 for local government projects, which include 91 ongoing schemes of water and sanitation with allocation of Rs 8.477 billion, 11 schemes of solid waste management with allocation of Rs 1.87 billion, 10 schemes of Water and Sanitation Agency, Hyderabad with allocation of Rs 2.4 billion.
In addition, Rs 7,261 billion has been allocated for two major schemes; Rs 4.26 billion has been allocated for completion of K-IV project and Rs 3 billion for S-III project under matching grants.
In Public Health Engineering, a sum of Rs 9.1 billion has been earmarked for 141 ongoing schemes. It covers water supply and sewerage system. The projects include 15 schemes, costing Rs 3.62 billion in phase– I for elimination of sewage discharging for fresh water bodies.
An amount of Rs 7.3 billion will be available for mega projects in Karachi, most of which are near completion and balance payment is required to be made to the contractors in during the next fiscal year.Also, Rs 31.5 billion has been allocated for 348 ongoing road schemes of Works and Services Department and Rs 7.92 billion for 215 road schemes undertaken by local government department.
Thar Coal
The government has allocated Rs 6.69 billion, as remaining throw-forward, for 14 ongoing schemes of Thar Coal infrastructure development.
There are 22 foreign assisted projects in ADP 2018/19 carrying total allocation of Rs 46.73 billion, including Rs 6.85 billion as grant. In addition, Rs 8.06 billion will be provided from the provincial government share as counterpart allocation.