PESHAWAR: The NWFP government decided to implement a seven-year ambitious plan, devised for the social uplift of militancy-hit areas of the province, by next financial year, officials said.

The Comprehensive Development Strategy (CDS), a document jointly prepared by NWFP Planning and Development Department and UK Department for International Development (DFID), will cost Rs674 billion.

The provincial bureaucracy reviewed the draft of proposed CDS in a meeting chaired by Chief Secretary Javed Iqbal here on Thursday. All the administrative secretaries of the government department attended the meeting.

An official privy to the meeting told Dawn that the departments had been directed to reassess the plans of their respective sectors and come up with further suggestions to be incorporated in the CDS by Feb 20.

The proposed strategy would be presented before the provincial cabinet for approval and subsequently placed at the Pakistan Development Forum, expected to be held in March this year, the official said.

Originally the CDS was designed last year with an estimated cost of Rs550 billion, however, it could not be formally lunched, said the official, adding now changes had been made in the draft by including some more sectors such as livelihood, environment and Malakand reconstruction that had increased the cost to Rs674 billion.

The officials would arrange around Rs400 billion from the improved fiscal space in the wake of higher transfers under NFC, while the remaining funds would be generated from the donors and multilateral agencies.

The proposed strategy would be put in place by next year, as the forthcoming Annual Development Programme would be designed on the basis of CDS, the official said.

The CDS, according to the official, covers areas like governance, security, health, education, local development, agriculture, infrastructure, economic management and urban development.

The governance and security component of the strategy involves construction of police infrastructure in new districts, improvement of police infrastructure in conflict areas, repair of damaged facilities and procurement of equipment, vehicles and ammunition for police.

Likewise, in social sector it covers areas of education, health and local development programmes. Main interventions in this component are provision of free textbooks, training for teachers, construction and rehabilitation of schools, improving health facilities, increasing health staff, health equipment, supplies and drugs, local development programmes, including welfare programmes and community infrastructure.

Maintenance and rehabilitation of roads, work on large dams and canals through public private partnership, flood protection work and housing were major initiatives of the infrastructure component of the strategy, the official said.

Moreover, land development, promotion of water harvesting, upgrading existing and establishment of new industrial zones and expansion, restructuring and rehabilitation of technical education system would be main areas of economic management component of the strategy.

The official said that developing 22 urban areas in NWFP having main public services including water, sanitation, drainage, streets and public infrastructure to accommodate private services in transport, agriculture and trade was part of the strategy.

Implementation of CDS, the official said, would be coordinated by a high level committee supported by a special development unit in planning and development department.

The committee would monitor the level of expenditure on the key priority measures and ensure that the CDS priorities were reflected in the annual budget, the official said.
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