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....Last year, on the eve of
the Budget 2003-04,
I had issued a policy statement in which I had expressed the vision of
my government. You may recall that in my policy statement I had
stated that reform was a continuous process and the best of reform
agendas needed to undergo a process of change through consultative
process.
This
year’s policy statement builds upon and vastly expands our past policy
initiatives.......
....In the medium term your government has decided to focus on poverty
reduction as a prime goal. It will be our overarching objective to
improve the lives of people by improving their incomes and improving the
delivery of public services. This twin objective requires that we
significantly enhance the capacity of the economy to create jobs on the
one hand and improve the state capacity to deliver public services on
the other....
Our
vision of 2003-04, spread over a three year Medium Term Budgetary
Framework, aimed to reduce poverty in the Punjab by focusing on:
The under-pinning of this entire framework was the
understanding that delivery of services to the people must improve.
There can be no compromise on this over-riding role of the Government.....
........My government can take credit for
taking
the lead in approving the gender reform action plan (GRAP). This
programme would entail a cost of Rs.177 million in the next financial
year for undertaking reforms in the following areas:
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· Political participation of women
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· Institutional reforms
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· Women public sector employment reforms
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· Gender sensitive budgeting and planning
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· Capacity development.....
.......We adopted a three pronged strategy to break the vicious cycle of
provincial finances and services delivery in the Punjab. Firstly,
problems in public expenditure management had to be addressed.
Secondly, provincial revenues had to be strengthened and thirdly,
improved planning, documentation and accountability of public
expenditure had to be ensured.....
To
view the Punjab's Vision 2020, Policy Statement by Chief Minister of the
Punjab please click the
link below:
Vision 2020 (Policy Statement
by Chief Minister Punjab) |
