F.P. Report
PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government has utilized 75% of the released development funds during the current fiscal year which is 51% above the development expenditure made till May last year. Development process in different sectors has gradually improved over the last four years and dozens of development projects of public welfare have been completed and made functional as well whereas overall services delivery has also improved many folds across the province including newly merged areas. Significant achievements have been made in road sector of the province since 2018-19 till date as 1175 KM long new roads have been constructed, 2639 KM long existing roads were rehabilitated and 49 new bridges were constructed. In the sector of Energy & Power, Hydel generation has been increased from 120 MW in 2018 to 200 MW in 2022 with additional revenue of Rs. 2.00 billion per annum. Similarly, 6491 mosques, 53 BHUs, 8000 schools and 6650 households have been solarized. In the newly merged areas, 7 grid stations along with 200 KM transmission lines, 1500 feeders, 1050 KM 11 KV lines and over 1000 transformers have been installed. Besides coverage of clean drinking water in the province has been increased from 61% in 2018 to 80% in 2022. Similarly, significant achievement have been made in the health sector of province and a number of development projects have been completed including Peshawar Institute of Cardiology, new OPD block at KTH, Women & Children Hospital Charsadda and Allied & Surgical Block at LRH. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has become the first province to roll out universal health coverage to every citizen whereas 1315 new beds have been added to the existing beds capacity of hospitals in the province.
This was told in the meeting held here on Thursday with Chief Minister Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Mahmood Khan in the chair. Beside Additional Chief Secretary Shahab Ali Shah, administrative secretaries of provincial departments and other relevant officials were in attendance.
The forum reviewed the progress so for made on the projects under annual development plan of current financial year in addition to threadbare discussion on the initial draft of ADP for the next fiscal year. Briefing about the utilization made so for under the current financial year, the forum was informed that Energy & Power department stood top of the list with 98% expenditure against the released funds whereas road and industries sectors stood second and third position with the utilization of 92 and 89 % respectively.
Briefing about the details regarding increase in the development budget since 2018 till date, it was informed that development budget of the province has increased from Rs. 114 billion in fiscal year 2018-19 to Rs. 210 billion in 2021-22 adding that preliminary, development budget worth Rs. 230 billion has been proposed for the upcoming fiscal year which would be the largest annual development plan of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The participants were also apprised of achievements made in different sectors over the last four years and was told that over 145000 meters flood protection walls, 788000 meters irrigation channels and 225 Km long Canal Petrol Roads were constructed across the province. Similarly, 51 Small Dams, 95 Check Dams were constructed, 370 Irrigation Tube Wells installed and 48 No of Micro Hydel projects were completed. Sehat Card scheme has been extended to the entire population of the province and in result 977827 individuals have utilized Sehat Card Plus since November, 2020 till date. Briefing about the health initiatives taken in NMDs, it was informed that 3 Cat-D hospitals and 42 Community Health Centers have been completed whereas 10 hospitals in the remote areas of NMDs had been operationalized under Public Private Partnership. Similarly, Express Lines of electricity had been provided to five DHQs and one Cat-C hospital in merged areas in addition to provision of medical equipment including CT Scans to 7 DHQ hospitals and 17 Secondary Care Hospitals of merged districts. Moreover 1803 project staff of NMDs was regularized. Similarly various health initiatives had been completed in the settled districts of the province including establishment of Regional Blood Centers in Swat, Abbottabad and D.I. Khan, free treatment to 30000 Cancer patients, establishment of Saidu College of Dentistry, upgradation of SINOR Swat and Women block at DHQ Mardan. Beside Fountain House comprising 140 beds had also been completed which is the first mental and psychiatric support hospital of the province. In the sector of Elementary and Secondary education, 141 new primary schools, 10 Secondary Schools and 4 Model Schools were completed whereas 176 schools of different categories were upgraded. Similarly, in merged areas 44 new primary schools had been completed,76 school had been upgraded in addition to reconstruction of several existing schools, construction of four Model schools, regularization of 27 Community schools and provision of scholarships to 9900 girls students of NMDs. An amount of Rs. 3351 million had been provided to the students of merged areas under different scholarship programs whereas Rs. 200 million had also been spent to support Deeni Madaris in merged areas. Under AIP, besides the construction of 400 additional class rooms provision of missing facilities in schools had been ensured. In industries sector, a number of new economic zones have been established including Hattar Special Economic Zone while an addition of 544 new industrial units was made. The chief minister directed the administrative secretaries of provincial departments to ensure cent percent utilization of funds released for development projects, in case of non-utilization concerned secretary would be held responsible. He also directed the quarters concerned to finalize next year Annual Development Program within one week while first priority should be given to high priority projects which have greater impact on improvement of public lives. Mahmood Khan directed the all provincial departments to identify projects for early completion and fix timelines for the purpose.
