May 22, 2006	Monday	Rabi-us-Sani 23, 1427

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RAWALPINDI, May 21: As the first phase of a federal government programme designed to provide relief assistance to drought-hit areas of the country has been completed, the Annual Plan Coordination Committee (APCC) meeting in Islamabad on Monday is expected to approve allocation of funds for the second phase.

The World Bank and the Asian Development Bank, which have financed the programme, have expressed their full satisfaction on the completion of the first phase known as the “Drought Emergency Relief Assistance (Dera)” aimed at combating drought and poverty reduction in affected areas of Pakistan. Both donors rated the project performance as “satisfactory” in their project completion reports.

Official sources told Dawn that Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz had directed the Planning Commission to ensure that the second phase of Dera project covered both the critical leftover drought-prone areas as well as provided rehabilitation of essential infrastructure for the conservation and management of water.

He also directed the Planning Commission to explore funding prospects with the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank for this comprehensive project.

Dera-I was launched in 2002 with an investment of Rs10,482 million for the execution of short-term development schemes in drought affected districts and areas.

The Asian Development Bank provided Rs6,438 million for the Drought Impact Mitigation Recovery Component (DIMRC), which was completed in December 2005, while the World Bank component of the Dera-I project to the tune of Rs2,652 million was completed in December 2004.

The rain-fed agriculture and livelihood of rural population in Sindh and Balochistan provinces were adversely affected by the drought, which hit these provinces for four years till 2002.

Consequently, funds were allocated to provinces on the basis of the intensity of drought. Sindh and Balochistan shared 30 per cent each, while Punjab and NWFP got allocation of 25 per cent and 15 per cent, respectively.

Official sources said the impact of Dera-I was very positive as it improved rural infrastructure and provided short-term employment to the rural population.

It was also instrumental to revival of economic activity and positively supplemented government efforts aimed at poverty reduction in drought-hit areas.

Due to meagre financial resources, the programme could not cover the entire drought affected areas. Persistent drought conditions have further aggravated the situation in more districts, the sources said.