ISLAMABAD, May 1: The federal government has decided to transfer four major responsibilities to the provinces and substantially increase the size of public sector development programme (PSDP) for next year to gain maximum public support in the election year, it is learnt.

Informed sources told Dawn that the centre had decided to fully empower provincial governments to take full charge of health, education, agriculture and industry sectors through their own resources.

Planning commission and finance ministry sources said these obligations originally belonged to the provinces under the constitution but were partially taken over by the centre in the past for political reasons.

From now on, the centre would not finance schemes relating to health, education, agriculture and industry in the provincial annual development plans, said sources close to the recently-held series of meetings of the priorities committee.

However, national programmes in these sectors like the nutrition programme, education for all and anti-polio campaigns would continue and get full funding.

The centre usually used to provide about 20-25 per cent of its PSDP funding (about Rs68 billion during the current year) to provincial programmes but has decided to discontinue this practice this year as a result of their increased fiscal shares out of the federal divisible pool under the revised National Finance Commission (NFC). The provincial share under the new arrangement would increase by about Rs52 billion next year.

These sources said the government was aiming at increasing the size of next year’s PSDP by diverting these additional funds to programmes that attract public support.

The sources said that since next year was going to be an election year, therefore the emphasis would be on providing maximum funds for gas connections, clean drinking water, electricity for all and other social sectors like nutrition, water and sanitation, environment and housing.

The sources said the prime minister has recently done away with the condition of electrifying villages on a bulk basis and has directed the Wapda to provide electricity even to a single consumer instead of waiting for piling up of 25 applications for new connections in a village to supply electricity.

They said the government would not include any major water infrastructure sector project in next year’s PSDP except small allocations for Bhasha dam’s initial activities.

The focus in the water sector would be the completion of on-going projects instead of enhancing the overall investment portfolio for new projects like the Kalabagh dam and the Akhori dam, etc.

However, the sources explained that small budgetary allocations for usual feasibility studies, PC-Is and detailed engineering designs would be part of the PSDP next year.

They said the government has got additional fiscal space as a result of foreign funding for earthquake-rehabilitation activities and it could be easily dovetailed with the normal development process.