Poverty alleviation project

LAHORE : Punjab government's South Punjab Poverty Alleviation Project (SPPAP) is successfully alleviating overall rural poverty in the region.

It is for the first time in the history of the province that the Punjab government is achieving its goals through economic growth and poverty alleviation, a senior official in the Food Department told APP here on Saturday.

In the second phase of the project, assisted by the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), the provincial government is working on rural poverty reduction in six districts i.e. Bahawalnagar, Bahawalpur, Muzaffargarh, Rajanpur, Rahimyar Khan and DG Khan in the region, he added.

The SPPAP is designed to assist the government to achieve its objectives of economic growth and poverty alleviation.

Planning and Development Department sources told APP that 35 per cent of the budget this year has been allocated for south Punjab which is a good omen.

"Through these funds, mega projects would be initiated in health, education, industry, agriculture and other sectors, they added.

The Punjab government with its development partner, the National Rural Support Programme (NRSP), had signed an agreement in January this year to extend the SPPAP for three years, up to March 31, 2021.