SAHIWAL: In a consultative conference held at the Bahauddin Zakariya University, Multan, four leading development organisations emphasized the need to address the underspending of the allocated budget for south Punjab for 2023-24.

The consultation, titled South Punjab People’s Agenda & Development Priorities,’ brought together over 100 participants, including government officials, academia, development sector donor agencies, civil society organisations, economists, students, media persons, and experts.

The leading organisations — Lodhran Pilot Project (LPP), Smajh Foundation (SF), Farmer Development Organisation (FDO), Agahe and Best Seller Foundation, Denmark — outlined several key priorities for the newly-established South Punjab Secretariat.

These priorities include fair distribution of financial resources to support health, education, clean water and climate change initiatives, the appointment of a permanent chief secretary instead of an additional secretary and engagement of local stakeholders such as citizens, professional organisations, development sector, academia, and experts in the decision-making process.

Consultation demands permanent CS instead of additional secretary

Additionally, they emphasized the need to develop a five-year strategic plan and decentralisation of powers to the South Punjab Secretariat and districts.

Dr Abdul Saboor, the chief executive officer of the Lodhran Pilot Project, stressed the need to form a South Punjab Development Consortium.

Professor Dr Muhammad Ali Shah, the vice chancellor of Bahauddin Zakariya University, highlighted the urgent need to revise financial priorities for south Punjab.

The participants noted that 35pc of the budget was allocated to South Punjab but detailed expenditure reports were not readily accessible.

They emphasized the importance of transparency and public participation in the budgeting process to ensure effective monitoring and implementation.

The key recommendations of the consultation included aligning development indicators with the SDG-2030 Agenda and Human Development Index (HDI) standards, increasing budgetary support to promote gender equality and women’s empowerment, especially in the rural areas, reducing the cost of agricultural inputs, adopting modern techniques and developing agricultural value chains for enhanced agriculture productivity and sustainability.

Furthermore, more funds should be allocated for out-of-school children, teacher development, student internships, and investments in the Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH).

The participants also stressed the need to fill vacant positions at community-based health centres, basic health units (BHUs) and rural health centers (RHCs) and to implement a comprehensive afforestation programme as a part of broader climate strategies to enhance carbon sequestration and support climate mitigation and adaptation efforts.

They noted that the incidents of domestic violence against women were high among many south Punjab districts and stressed women empowerment programmes.

Prominent attendees included WHH Country Director Ayesha Jamshed, Director of the Institute of Social Sciences Rafeeq Jafar, Research Consultant Amer Ejaz, Director of ICS Department BZU Dr Taher Mahmood, chairman of the Social Work Department at Islamia University of Bahawalpur Prof Dr. Asif Ranjha, FDA CEO Ghulam Mustafa, Deputy Secretary of Budget and Planning Quratul Ain, District Women Protection Officer Muneeza Manzoor Butt and Deputy Secretary of Local Government Muhammad Khurshid.

The conference concluded with a call for continued collaboration and consultation among all stakeholders to ensure that development efforts in south Punjab were inclusive, transparent, and aligned with the needs of the people. Interestingly, not a single political party representative was called for the consultation.

Published in Dawn, May 29th, 2024