KARACHI, June 15: The Sindh government has allocated an all-time high amount of Rs32 billion for the Annual Development Plan (ADP) for the fiscal year 2006-07 with an objective to mitigate the sufferings of the people of the province.

The new outlay, 33.3 per cent higher than the current year’s ADP of Rs24 billion, includes Rs20.83 billion for key sectors of the province with a special package of Rs5.5 billion for urban and rural areas.

The provincial government will contribute Rs24 billion towards next year’s ADP from its own resources whereas district governments’ share of Rs8 billion will come through ‘single line transfers’ from July 2006 onwards based on the NFC Award, as stated by Syed Sardar Ahmad, senior minister for Excise, Taxation and Coordination in Sindh Assembly here on Thursday.

The provincial government seems to be focusing on key areas to ensure faster growth and development and bringing about qualitative change in standard of living of people in both the urban and rural areas. The next year’s ADP has allocated Rs4.5 billion for the communication sector, which has recorded tremendous growth during last couple of years.

However, under the head of special packages, Rs2 billion has been allocated to Karachi and Rs1.5 billion to Hyderabad whereas Rs2 billion will be spent on rural uplift.

The water and power sector is being given Rs1.55 billion in the next year’s ADP to overcome water shortages. The government will introduce technologies of drip and sprinkler irrigation through a new project, titled “high efficiency irrigation system” costing Rs134.34 million, which would be made available to farmers on subsidized rates as the government will bear 80 per cent of the cost and 20 per cent by the growers.

The increased allocation for water sector from Rs888 million to Rs1.5 billion will be used for early completion of projects, which include 70 kms of canals and construction of 50 new structures. The provincial government has also earmarked sufficient funds to carry out silt clearance in an area of 2,600 miles.

The most important initiative to be undertaken by the government towards water management is setting up of a Small Dams Corporation for construction of small dams in the province.

The development budget of the agriculture sector for 2006-07, has been increased by 103 per cent while that of forest and wildlife sectors raised by 23 per cent. The government will spend Rs200 million for conversion of saline water into sweet water at various locations in the coastal belt of the province.

The government has enhanced education budget by three times from Rs4.1 billion to Rs12.7 billion for improving the service delivery. The existing incentive programme will be continued and will be further refined. Free textbooks will be provided to over 4.7 million children from class one to 10 in all government schools and partnerships will be established with district governments for various activities.

For stipends to girls, other than the Rs1,000 for all girls in class five to 10, a differential policy has been devised for the low outcome districts and talukas, for which Rs500 million have been allocated for the Stipend Programme for the coming year. With a view to bring the salary of the teachers in rural areas at par with those posted in urban areas the government has decided to extend a ‘remote area allowance’ to the primary school teachers posted in rural areas at the cost of Rs1.1. billion for encouraging availability of teachers in villages.

For improving working conditions in hospitals, the provincial government has earmarked Rs1 billion in the new budget for providing grants to all the hospitals in the province. The service structure of the paramedical staff has been improved upgrading their scales for facilitating better remuneration and benefits to them. This would have a budgetary impact of Rs80 million.

Similarly, an amount of Rs100 million has been allocated to provide incentives to doctors for postings in rural areas. The health development budget is also being raised to Rs850 million against the revised budget of Rs750 million.

Major hospitals in the province will be equipped with modern machinery for improving their diagnostic capability. Under this lithography machines, angiography and angioplasty machinery, MRI and CT scanners are being provided at different teaching hospitals in the province.

A cancer hospital is being established at Nawabshah with the help of Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission for which a plot at the cost of Rs3.5 million has been procured and handed over to PAEC for the purpose. An Accident emergency and ancillary services complex is being set up at Civil Hospital, Karachi, through a federal financing of Rs1.43 billion. Similar units will be established in PMCH Nawabshah, Liaquat University Hospital and Gambat Institute of Medical Sciences.

After the opening of Sukkur Medical College, the government has decided to upgrade the Civil Hospital Sukkur to a teaching hospital. The provincial government has also decided to establish a medical college at Mirpurkhas.An allocation of Rs3 billion was kept in the social security fund last year. The procedure and the rules of operation of this fund are under preparation. An Rs3 billion allocation has been provided for next year to provide relief to the people in distress.

Under industrial infrastructure, small industrial estates are being set up near Ghaghar Phatak and those at Super Highway and SIE Larkana would be extended. The federal government would provide funds for the construction of a bridge over Indus, between Larkana and Khairpur for which the work will begin next year.

During next year the government would invest around Rs6.5 billion for the development of the road sector both through normal allocation of Rs4.5 billion and Rs2 billion through the ADB assisted Sindh Road Sector Programme. With this allocation, over 400 km of roads would be improved and around 350 km of new roads will be constructed.

For overcoming extreme impoverishment in the coastal regions of Thatta and Badin, the provincial government would be launching “Sindh Coastal and Inland Community Development Project” under ADP at an estimated cost of Rs2.4 billion from next year.

However, Syed Sardar Ahmad, senior minister for Excise, Taxation and Coordination in the budget speech indicated a total outlay for the next year’s ADP over Rs50 billion with Rs24 billion as provincial ADP, Rs8 billion district ADP, Rs5.3 billion FPA, Rs10.5 billion federally assisted projects, Rs250 million DERA and Rs1.95 billion SDSSP.