PESHAWAR: Chief Minister Mahmood Khan has said that health and education would be the top priority sectors of the provincial government for the Annual Development Programme (ADP) 2020-21.

He directed the quarters concerned to give timelines for completion of all processes starting from the preparation of PC-1s up to the ground breakings of the new developmental schemes.

Chairing a meeting regarding formulation of ADP for the next financial year here on Wednesday, he directed the quarters concerned to prepare a workable plan for regularisation of doctors, teachers and other contract employees of erstwhile Fata.

An official statement said that the meeting discussed in detail various proposed projects of those sectors to be included in the next ADP.

Mahmood Khan asked the high ups of health department to take necessary steps to complete ongoing schemes in health sector, especially construction of hospital buildings, as well as to ensure availability of required staff and medical equipments for the under-construction hospitals by the time when the hospitals were ready to be handed over to the health department so that people could benefit from those projects without any delay.

The meeting also reviewed progress so far made on completion of ongoing developmental schemes of these sectors. Regarding overall utilisation of funds released under the current ADP, the meeting was informed that so far 78 per cent of the fund was utilised and efforts were being made to ensure maximum utilisation of funds by the end of current financial year.

The chief minister termed strengthening of health infrastructure in tribal districts one of the important priority areas of government. He directed the officials of health department to take necessary steps for the timely completion of the upgradation and strengthening project of all the district and tehsil headquarters hospitals in the tribal areas.

He asked the high ups of education department to devise feasible plan for reconstruction and rehabilitation of all damaged schools in the tribal districts and availability of teachers for those schools.

He also directed the authorities of education department to design a project for the availability of missing facilities in public sector schools in the vicinity of the provincial capital.

Expressing dissatisfaction over slow pace of work on some of the developmental schemes, the chief minister directed the quarters concerned to find out the reasons for slow pace of work on those schemes and identify the officials responsible for it.

Published in Dawn, June 4th, 2020