Punjab Cabinet met here on Thursday under the chairmanship of Punjab Chief Minister Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi and gave approval to the provincial Budget and Annual Development Programme for the year 2007-08. The cabinet was also apprised of the details of the budget as well as ADP.
According to an official, addressing the cabinet meeting, the Chief Minister said it augured well that present government was presenting its fifth budget and the assemblies were completing their constitutional term, for the first time in the history of the country.
He congratulated members of the cabinet over the approval of the fifth budget. "Due to political, administrative and economic reforms of President General Pervez Musharraf, the ADP of the provincial government had increased from Rs 20 billion to a record figure of Rs 150 billion," he added.
He said that the present government got a record number of 71 bills through the Assembly as against 29 by any government in the past. He said that nine bills were in the process of legislation. He averred that present leadership had also achieved the targets of development with political will.
"The reforms programme of the government was being appreciated at local and international level and it had proved very successful due to individual and collective efforts," he added.
According to him, the present leadership had strictly adhered to financial discipline and 1.4 million persons had been provided jobs annually. Strengthening of private sector was an important feature of the policy of the government. Around 600,000 such families had been identified living below the poverty line and the data of 4.2 million members of these families had been computerised. These families would be awarded a monthly stipend of Rs 500 each.
He averred that land would be provided to landless cultivators for the purpose of poverty alleviation while participation of poor families in the livestock sector would be ensured. He said that maximum resources had been allocated for development programme and no new tax had been levied in the budget.
He said that the Punjab government would bear a subsidy of Rs 3 billion for granting 25 percent exemption in power tariff to farmers on tube-wells, which would help improve socio-economic condition of farmers as well, strengthen agriculture sector.
"A sum of Rs 43 billion had been allocated for Lahore-Sialkot Motorway and Mass Transit projects, which would leave a positive impact on national economy. He said that 58 percent extra funds had been earmarked for education, health, water supply and sanitation and other social sectors than the previous year," he added.
The Chief Minister congratulated Punjab Chief Secretary Salman Siddique, Chairman Planning and Development Suleman Ghani and their entire team for hard work in preparing the development programme.