The Government
of Punjab is undertaking a number of initiatives to improve
performance of the social service sectors leading to the achievement
of
Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by the target
year of 2015. Policy documents like the Vision 2020 and P-PRSP clearly
demonstrate the commitment of the provincial government towards
meeting these objectives.
Punjab Devolved Social Services Programme (PDSSP)
is another such initiative taken up by the Government of the Punjab
to improve the service delivery right at the grass root level. For
working and implementation of
PDSSP, the present
devolved system under
PLGO provides best opportunities,
as three-tier political system of LGs is well crafted and backed
by a number of Council Committees with built-in system of transparency
and public voice and pressures. The roles and responsibilities at
three tiers of LGs are also well defined. The
PDSSP
design creates a balance between institutional reforms and addressing
governance issues. Further, the program design is not complex and
is supported by a package of technical assistance to address institutional
and governance issues. The Provincial Government has agreed to a
flexible financing of social sectors through
PDSSP
to address gaps in service delivery, target the poor and vulnerable
including children and women, capacity building, and monitoring
and evaluation.
The overall goal of
DSSP is to strengthen devolved
social services to achieve progress on
MDGs related
to poverty, gender, education, health, and
Water Supply
and Sanitation (WSS). The program objective is to support
more equitable, efficient, effective, and sustainable social services
in line with the
PLGO. In order to achieve the
goal and objective, it will be necessary to;
