The CDWP meeting presided over by Deputy Chairman Planning Commission, Mohammad Jehanzeb Khan, approved eight projects worth Rs. 30.2 Billion and recommended two projects worth Rs. 65.9 Billion to the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) for further consideration.
Secretary Planning, Abdul Aziz Uqaili, and senior officers from Planning Commission and Federal Ministries/Divisions participated in the meeting, while representatives from Provincial Governments participated through video conferences. Projects related to health, higher education, physical planning and housing, and water sectors were presented before the forum. Four position papers and one concept clearance proposal also came under discussion.
Ministry of National Health Services, Regulations, and Coordination, presented the projects worth Rs. 25.8 billion, which were approved.
The project, namely “the Establishment of 200 Bedded Mother & Child Hospital Distt. Rajanpur,” with a total cost of Rs. 7,476.728 million was approved. The project is proposed to be financed through PSDP under COVID-19 Umbrella PC-I, titled “COVID-19 responsive and other natural calamities.”
The project would improve access of marginalized communities and widely scattered populations of the low socio-economic groups to quality maternity and immediate newborn care through the provision of high-quality EmONC services, strengthen preventive services, and achieve optimum respective SDG health indicators ensuring service delivery by trained, skilled and well-equipped staff.
The project, namely “the Establishment of 50 Bed Cardiac Hospital in Gilgit–Baltistan,” worth Rs. 4,674.768 million was also approved. The project is proposed to be financed through PSDP. The project envisages the establishment of a 50-bed cardiac hospital and provision of diagnostic and therapeutic facilities of cardiac care for the people of Gilgit Baltistan with the installation of modern biomedical gadgets such as Angiography, Thallium scan, ECG, ETT, Echo machines, ICU, CCU, HDU facilities, etc.
CDWP approved the project, namely “the Procurement of MRI equipment for the Radiology Department, Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences,” worth Rs. 463.450 million. The project is proposed to be financed through PSDP. The project envisages installation and up-gradation of MRI and CT equipment in the Radiology Department of PIMS to ensure the continuity of the already existing services and to improve the quality and magnitude of the services for the deserving patients.
The revised project, titled “Development of Integrated Disease and Response System (IDSRS) with Public Health Laboratories Network (PHLN) and Workforce,” worth Rs. 4544.158 million, was also accorded approval. The project is included in the current PSDP 2021-22. The project is funded under the COVID-19 umbrella PC-I, titled “COVID-19 Responsive and Other Natural Calamities Control Program.”
The project envisages early detection of communicable diseases that may pose public health threats and help generate an early response to mitigate the impact of the outbreak. The revised PC-I is submitted by sponsors with the additional scope of conducting a feasibility study for the Infectious Disease Laboratory (IDL).
The project has four components, i.e., strengthening of Field Epidemiology & Disease Surveillance (FEDS) system, development of national Public Health Laboratories Network (PHLN), and transition to Field Epidemiology and Laboratories Training Program (FELTP) with Human Resource (HR) development and feasibility study for the Infectious Disease Laboratory (IDL) to be conducted at NIH.
CDWP approved the project for “the Establishment of a 200 Bed Center of Excellence for Obstetrics & Gynecology at Rawalpindi.” The total cost of the project is Rs. 8619.00 million.
Under the Higher Education Sector, the project, namely “the Establishment of NUST Campus at Quetta” worth Rs. 2,864.506 million was presented which was accorded approval. The project is proposed to be financed through PSDP. The establishment of the NUST campus in Quetta would help the Government of Balochistan in the development of human resources by producing a quality workforce in the fields of engineering and sciences.
The PC-II (2nd Revised) of Project Readiness Financing for KP Cities Improvement Project worth Rs. 1,501.950 was approved by CDWP. The project is proposed to be financed through foreign funding. Under the Social welfare sector, the CDWP forum approved the project titled ICT Child Labour Survey, Islamabad, with a total cost of Rs. 57.818 million. The project would be financed through PSDP and foreign funding.
Ministry of Water Resources presented two projects worth Rs. 65.9 billion, which were recommended to ECNEC. The 2nd revised project, namely “the Gomal Zam Dam Multipurpose Project,” located in District DeraIsmailKhan, Tank, in Khyber Pakhtoonkhwa with a total cost of Rs. 25,928.35 million was recommended to ECNEC. The project is proposed to be financed through foreign funding.
The main objective of the project is to harness floodwater to provide an assured irrigation water supply of 848 cusecs (peak discharge of 24 Cumecs) to irrigate 191,139 acres of land, including 28,053 acres additional land, which falls under the command of the Waran Canal System and generate 17.4 MW electricity. Other objectives include flood mitigation and employment generation in the region by enhanced farm production.
Another project presented by the Ministry of Water Resources was the Naulong Multipurpose Dam Project Jhal Magsi (3rd Revised). The total cost of the project is Rs. 39,944.52 million and it was recommended to ECNEC. Eighty percent of project financing would be through the Asian Development Bank, while 20 percent would be financed through PSDP.
WAPDA will be responsible for the implementation of Dam and allied works (i.e., Auxiliary dam, spillway, fuse plug, outlet works, tunnel) Powerhouses, irrigation system, Command Area Development Work, Water Shed Management Works, provision of common point for water supply scheme and E&M works related to powerhouse, gates, etc.
