LAHORE, Feb 3: The Punjab Resource Management Programme (PRMP) proposes to launch a training programme for the government officers for upgrading skills and developing managerial capacity at the provincial and district level.

The main focus of the capacity-building programme will be on the offices of the provincial cadres. Under this programme, these officers will be given an opportunity to pursue long-term trainings abroad in the best international training establishments and institutes in the areas of public finance, economics, engineering, management, IT, public policy and administration, etc, says a news release issued by the PRMP on Saturday.

The programme will be housed initially in the P&D department. The PRMP will prepare and execute the plan and the project will be operated and maintained by the P&D department. Implementation will be through the Capacity Development Interventions Committee, headed by Planning and Development Board chairman Salman Ghani, with secretaries of S&GAD, MPDD, finance, P&D, health, education, and CMU DG as its members. The PRMP director is member/secretary of the committee.

The PRMP, in consultation with the stakeholders, has prepared a list of universities/courses which are relevant to all the departments of the Punjab government. Any officer of the Punjab government who gets an admission to any of these courses/universities will be eligible for applying for this scholarship. However, the final decision for award of scholarships will be taken by the CDI committee.

The officers being sent for degree courses through the PRMP scholarship facility will be required to fill in a surety bond and furnish an undertaking as designed and enjoined upon by the Punjab government. Implementation of this programme will take place in three years. However, officers have been requested to start applying for admissions as soon as possible for being able to secure admissions to universities in the fall (August/September) 2007 programme.

The Punjab government has embarked upon a wide-ranging public sector reforms programme. "To make these reforms sustainable, it is imperative that requisite capacity is built with the provincial public sector. The PRMP has been launched by the government with the overarching objective of assisting the provincial administration in reducing poverty through good governance, including improved public-sector resource management.

"The programme seeks to improve service delivery with particular emphasis on pro-poor sectors through structural reforms in systems and processes to manage public resources," the release said.