Punjab has made a major cut of Rs488 billion in the development budgets of various departments, leaving several proposed development schemes out of the provincial budget.
According to budget details, multiple departments have seen major reductions compared to last year’s allocations, affecting sectors including local government, education, health, housing, agriculture, transport and communication works.
The development budget of the Local Government Department has been cut by Rs26.5 billion. Compared to last year, the allocation has been reduced from Rs142 billion to Rs115.5 billion.
School education faces major reduction
The School Education Department has seen one of the biggest reductions in its development budget. Its development allocation has been cut by Rs74.7 billion, falling from Rs100 billion last year to Rs25.3 billion.
The development budget of the Specialized Healthcare Department has been reduced by Rs51.9 billion. Compared to last year’s allocation of Rs95 billion, the department’s development budget has been brought down to Rs43.1 billion.
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The development budget of the Health Department has also been reduced by Rs52.8 billion. According to the figures, its allocation has been cut from Rs86 billion to Rs33.2 billion.
Higher education, housing also affected
The development budget of the Higher Education Department has been cut by Rs9 billion. The Housing Department’s budget has also been reduced from Rs39.5 billion to Rs30.5 billion.
In another major reduction linked to housing and development schemes, the budget has been cut by Rs142.16 billion, falling from Rs151 billion last year to Rs8.84 billion.
Communications, agriculture budgets reduced
The Construction and Communications Department has faced a cut of Rs45.9 billion. Its development budget has been reduced from Rs120 billion to Rs74.10 billion compared to the previous year.
The Agriculture Department’s development budget has also been reduced by Rs20 billion, bringing the allocation down to Rs60 billion.
The Transport Department’s development budget has been reduced from Rs85 billion to Rs78.50 billion. The reduction is part of the wider cuts made across Punjab’s departmental development spending.
Proposed schemes left out of budget
Due to the major reduction in development spending, proposed development schemes of various departments have been left out of the budget.
The cuts are expected to affect the pace of new infrastructure, service delivery and sectoral development projects across Punjab.
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