LAHORE, Dec 17: Chief Minister Pervaiz Elahi announced here on Saturday that district governments would be given Rs22 billion over and above their annual budget for accelerating the pace of development in the province.

At the first-ever meeting of the recently-elected district nazims, he said the government would start recruiting 29,000 schoolteachers from Jan 1, 2006 to strengthen the education sector.

The chief minister said the PML believed in the local government system and wanted to further fortify it. That’s why it was required to make the party more effective and strong, he said.

The provincial and the district governments were the part and parcel of the same system and the benefit of the reform programme was being trickled down to the lowest level through the best working relationship between them, he said.

The district government system, he said, was part of President Pervez Musharraf’s reform agenda. The system was important with regard to the country’s political scene and socio-economic conditions, resolving problems of the people at their doorsteps.

He said the provincial government would provide guidance to the district governments in budget-making. Like the province, the districts, too, must maintain a monetary discipline and utilize their resources in a transparent manner.

According to the chief minister, the basic aim of the reform agenda was to increase per capita income. And to attain this target the provincial and the district governments would implement a joint programme.

He said industrial estates were being established in Lahore, Faisalabad, Multan and other big cities in the province to accelerate the pace of industrialization and generate maximum job opportunities.

The congenial atmosphere created by the government had enhanced foreign and local investment. The provincial government expected a Rs30 billion foreign investment in the 30-acre new housing project near Shahdara.

He said bye-laws were being framed to promote the housing sector. The private sector was being given incentives so as to generate maximum employment opportunities.

Pervaiz Elahi said a new social security system had been devised in consultation with industrialists and chambers of trade and commerce. Under the system, labour colonies and hospitals were being established near industrial estates.

He said the provincial government had started implementing the president’s plan of providing clean drinking water to all by 2007. Big water reservoirs were the need of the hour to provide low-cost power to people and promote agriculture sector in the country.

The chief minister said the nation stood united in providing relief to the areas affected by the earthquake. By helping the affected people, the people had proved that they were with their brethren in their hour of trial.

He said the provincial government had so far provided Rs2.50 billion relief to the affected people. The relief measures by it were continuing and the province’s Support-A-Family programme was being appreciated at all levels.

The chief minister said the provincial government had conducted a survey of all districts, getting first-hand knowledge of the problems of each of them. A related document would soon be provided to all districts to enable them to efficiently resolve their problems.