ISLAMABAD, Aug 15 (ABC): The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government plans to invest Rs17.55 billion ($65 million) to strengthen local institutions and improve public service delivery in the province’s merged areas under a World Bank-backed programme.
According to official documents available with Wealth Pakistan, the Institutional Development of Merged Areas initiative is one of five components of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Rural Investment and Institutional Support Project.
The project covers all districts of the Newly Merged Areas (NMAs) and Frontier Regions (FR) of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. It combines investments in infrastructure, institutional development, flood response, project management and emergency response.
The Rs17.55 billion institutional development component aims to improve the government’s responsiveness to citizens. It will focus particularly on strengthening lower tiers of government and improving public service delivery.
Village councils to receive institutional support
A major part of the initiative focuses on strengthening village councils and building the capacity of local communities.
The programme will support participatory planning, budgeting and monitoring at the local level. It will also strengthen social accountability systems, community development and behavioural-change outreach.
According to the documents, village councils will receive conditional grants to finance local infrastructure priorities based on community needs.
The government will also deploy social mobilisers and provide engineering support to village councils. This assistance will help communities identify, develop and implement village-level sub-projects.
Local schemes may include water supply, sanitation and footpaths. They may also cover boundary walls, small-scale irrigation canals, community halls and village council offices.
Selected sub-projects will receive financing through conditional grants after village councils fulfil the required access conditions.
Public service delivery centres planned
The initiative also provides for the establishment or improvement of public service delivery centres at the tehsil level.
These centres will make it easier for citizens to access government services, particularly civil and vital records.
The institutional development initiative forms part of a broader five-component programme aimed at integrating the merged areas more closely with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s provincial systems.
Rs47.25bn earmarked for infrastructure and services
The largest component of the broader programme is Multisectoral Investments and Improved Service Delivery to Merged Areas. It carries financing of Rs47.25 billion ($175 million).
This component focuses on extending government systems to the merged areas through infrastructure investment and addressing gaps in public service delivery.
The programme covers water supply and sanitation, rural roads, agriculture and irrigation infrastructure. Authorities will direct investments towards high-priority infrastructure to improve connectivity, economic productivity and human capital outcomes.
Water and sanitation investments will focus particularly on underserved areas. These interventions will include clean drinking water, sanitation services and wastewater treatment.
Agricultural investments will support value addition and processing, diversification and productivity improvement. They will also promote better marketing and training.
Together, the institutional development and infrastructure components aim to strengthen local governance, expand access to basic services and integrate the merged areas more closely with provincial administrative and service-delivery systems.
