KARACHI - Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah has said that Poverty Reduction Strategy (PRS) prepared with the technical assistance of European Union (EU) is aimed at focusing on targeted interventions for poverty reduction, focusing on building on existing government initiatives together with experience and research-based conclusions.
This he said on Friday while presiding over a meeting on the PRS. The meeting was attended by provincial ministers and other concerned officers.
The Planning and Development Department with the technical assistance of the EU has prepared a 215-page PRS book in which urban poverty is characterised by lack of employment and shortage of income.
Therefore, focus of programme is on interventions aimed at improved economic opportunities, targeting enterprise development as a means of enhancing employment opportunities and thus household income levels. In the second phase Urban Economic Clusters and Income Enhancement Programmes would be launched.
For rural area it explains that that Sindh is characterised by many villages and small settlements dispersed across the province and it would focus on identification of villages within specified proximity to each other and identify a growth/service hub within the cluster where economies of scale and improvement of services/facilities could be improved through consolidation.
The growth/service hub might contain housing and village up-gradation by improving internal roads, drains, parks and mosques. There would be commercial facilities to support local agri-based business and services such as input/output storage facilities, distribution centres, sale outlets, bank, refrigerated storage facilities, milk chilling plant and vet clinic.
In the second phase programme intervention would focus would be on creation of rural hub (supply side development) which would have a catalytic effect on promoting economic activities (a demand side development).
The programme could be discussed and approved in the next cabinet meeting for implementation.
