By Adnan Rafique
ISLAMABAD: Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives Professor Ahsan Iqbal on Tuesday chaired a meeting to address the matters related to the transfer of Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP) projects being executed by Pak-Public Works Department (PWD) to provinces and various federal government entities.
The meeting was attended by Secretary Housing & Works, members of working groups and senior officials from the Ministry of Planning, who deliberated on the optimal redistribution of these projects.
Out of the 162 PSDP projects managed by Pak-PWD, as many as 138 projects are attributed to provinces and 24 to federal entities.
The minister underscored the pivotal role of the Central Development Working Party (CDWP) in this process, emphasizing that all PSDP projects must be presented before the CDWP forum before any transfer decisions were made.
He directed the departments concerned to compile comprehensive ‘Position Papers’ outlining each province’s projects for consideration during upcoming CDWP meetings, facilitating informed decisions on project reassignment.
In his directives, Ahsan Iqbal stressed the urgency of expedient project transfers without undue delay.
He highlighted the necessity of establishing robust Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) and documentation protocols to streamline the handover process, ensuring clarity on project completion statuses and outstanding tasks.
Earlier. Federal Minister for Planning Ahsan Iqbal has directed the top officials of Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) to prepare a comprehensive five-year strategic plan to modernise the PBS.
The federal minister directed the top officials of PBS to form a task force involving experts from the private sector to study global best practices for data and present a five-year strategic plan for reforming the PBS.
The minister gave these directions in a high level meeting with top officials of Planning Ministry and PBS at P-Block Secretariat.
The minister directed the concerned authorities to immediately form a task force consisting of experts from all departments and said that the task force would prepare recommendations in the light of trends in technology and modern methods of data collection and analysis around the world to modernise PBS.
Emphasising the urgent need for data-driven decisions, the minister instructed PBS to identify tehsils with high numbers of out-of-school children for targeted education initiatives.
The planning minister further instructed the facilitation of development data dissemination at the constituency level, enabling political representatives to enhance their districts through data-driven decision-making, promoting a culture of ownership, accountability, and responsive governance.
