Pakistan’s Central Development Working Party (CDWP) on Thursday approved 11 development projects with a combined estimated cost of more than Rs123 billion, covering sectors including education, health, infrastructure and agriculture.
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The meeting was chaired by Planning Minister and Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission Ahsan Iqbal. Out of the total projects discussed, seven projects worth Rs15.17 billion were approved directly by the CDWP, while four larger projects with a cumulative cost of Rs108.16 billion were recommended to the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (Ecnec) for final approval.
Among the major approvals was the establishment of a Daanish School in Haveli-Kahuta in Azad Jammu and Kashmir. The project carries an estimated cost of Rs4.69 billion and was taken up following a request from AJK Prime Minister Raja Faisal Mumtaz Rathore ahead of upcoming state elections. The planning body directed officials to rationalise the project cost in line with previously approved Daanish Schools.
In the health sector, the revised project for the upgradation of District Headquarters Hospital in Hafizabad, valued at Rs7.93 billion, was referred to Ecnec for approval. Another initiative, the National Health Support Programme for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, costing Rs1.34 billion, received direct approval from the CDWP.
The meeting also approved the Prime Minister’s scheme aimed at supporting students with physical challenges in higher education institutions. The Rs1.85 billion initiative will provide electric wheelchairs, laptops for visually impaired students and audio-visual learning aids through the Higher Education Commission.
Read More: CDWP approves portfolio of development projects worth Rs 160.2bn
Additional projects included the digitalisation of land records in rural areas of Islamabad, construction of an administrative block for the Supreme Court of Pakistan branch registry in Quetta, and the establishment of the Pakistan Audit and Accounts Academy in Islamabad.
A major irrigation improvement project in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa worth Rs50.96 billion was also recommended to Ecnec, with financial support expected from the World Bank.