The Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (Ecnec), he disclosed, has approved 33 projects worth Rs 185.6 billion, including a foreign exchange component valued at Rs 29.3 billion. Out of this money Rs 100026.108m are to be spent on seven water projects, Rs 12875.314m on three energy projects, Rs 23551.155m on four health projects, Rs 6801.906m on two physical planning/housing projects, Rs 10019.199m on two education projects, Rs 1841.103m on one IT project, and Rs 2639.75m on two electronic media projects. Rs 14468.659m are to go into six communication projects, while Rs 2590.455m have been earmarked for three devolution projects, and Rs 10407.3m for two rural development projects.
For the past several years, resource constraints had brought development activity to a virtual standstill. As a resultant, the social sector development suffered a serious setback, also adversely impacting an already dismal employment situation. No wonder, during the last two years poverty has increased to an alarming level.
The new spending on social sector development therefore, brings a ray of hope to the poor and unemployed. As the spread of various project shows, they are to cover diverse regions and fields of endeavour, also generating a lot of activity in the auxiliary industries, which should open employment opportunities for a number of people having different skills.
Irrigation water scarcity being a major issue, a particularly notable aspect of the Ecnec programme is the planned construction of 43 new minor canals in the Pat Feeder Canal command area as well as remodelling of 49 minor canals.
The purpose, of course, is to ensure enhanced availability of irrigation water, which would boost agriculture productivity in the water deficient Balochistan province.
The irrigation system in Punjab, too, is to be made more efficient through a number of modern water management measures.
Similarly, substantial work on lining of distributaries and minor canals in Sindh is to be undertaken.
That is to benefit perennial as well as non-perennial areas irrigated by the canals in the Guddu, Sukkur and Kotri barrage systems, and prevent water losses through seepage. It is aimed at bringing around 445684 acres of new land under cultivation.
An interesting project in the field of energy is Keyal Khawar Hydropower, which is to be built at a cost of Rs 7066.862m having a foreign exchange component of Rs 3032.080m.
It is to generate 479 GWH energy per annum, out of which 135 GWH will be available during peak hours. Besides being a source of cheap energy to users, it is an important step for our planners to take in the direction of building small hydel power projects wherever possible rather than to insist only on mega energy generation schemes.
Another important Ecnec decision is to put in place rural development and farm-to-market road projects that have been especially designed for the less-developed areas such as the Dir district in the north.
There is also a plan to improve 462 km of provincial highways and construct 558 km of 13 rural access roads in Balochistan that can go a long way in bringing the fruits of development to the people living in the hinterland.
Yet another admirable scheme is to extend the existing utility services at Karachi Export Processing Zone (Phase II) to include an additional 100 acres of land to make things easier for export-oriented industries. The decision reflects a timely realisation of the export sector's expanding needs.
A reasonable amount of money is earmarked for Madrassah Reform Programme that is to cover various parts of the country, including FATA, FANA, AJK and ICT. It is directed - as it should be - at bridging the gap between the mainstream and Madrassah education systems through the introduction of English, mathematics, social studies and general science as core subjects at the primary middle and secondary levels while English, economics, Pakistan Studies and computer science is to be taught at the intermediate level.
As President General Pervez Musharraf has been repeatedly pointing out, religious schools in this country have been rendering a great community service by providing free of cost religious instruction and boarding facilities to children from economically disadvantaged families.
Unfortunately, however, some of these came to be used by their patrons for the propagation of sectarian hatred and militant ideologies. Such activities need to be curbed for the sake of peace and harmony of this society itself.
It is also important for these schools to give education to their young students which, besides imparting religious learning, also enables them to become productive members of this society by acquiring career-oriented knowledge.
Hence, the Ecnec programme to have religious schools offer education in the subjects it has listed alongside religious learning cannot but be lauded.
Prime Minister Zafarullah Khan Jamali is scheduled to hold a meeting of NEC later this month or sometime next month to review the development programme approved by Ecnec.
That would also be a good occasion for all concerned to consider putting in place an effective mechanism to monitor the progress of the various development projects.
For, past experience shows that the government's delivery system has not been working effectively. It is about time monitoring responsibility was clearly defined and assigned to a duly qualified organisation such as the Planning Commission.