Punjab: Cabinet gives in-principle approval for 4-year strategic action plans for 4 departments

The Punjab Cabinet on Wednesday gave in-principle approval for a Four-Year Strategic Action Plan (4SAP) - 2019 to 2023, to set Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for the departments of Tourism and Cultural Affairs, Water Supply and Sanitation, Public Works Department (B & R) and School Education.

The action plan, which was taken up by the Cabinet under the chairmanship of Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh, will also set the key performance parameters for government officials to enable the integration of the departments into the development process of the state. It was also decided to approve their integration into the state budgetary process.

"These key parameters were in line with the United Nations 2030 Development agenda, which contains 17 sustainable development goals, comprehensively covering social, economic and environmental dimensions. Focussed on goals, targets and performance assessment of each department, these would be reflected in the Annual Performance Appraisal Reports of key personnel as per targets assigned to them," an official spokesperson of the Chief Minister's Office (CMO) said.

"The SDGs and targets had been mapped to the administrative departments, with each SDG assigned to one nodal department as one goal related to many departments. Besides, the state had also adopted the National Indicators Framework, with implementing departments preparing the state-specific indicators," read the release.

It may be recalled that in order to take up proper planning, implementation and monitoring of the progress of realisation of the UN SDGs, the state government had earlier constituted a Task Force headed by the Finance Minister, besides appointing a steering committee under the Chairmanship of Chief Secretary, it added.