It’s a pro-poor Budget
Published On October 19, 2014 » 1742 Views» By Davies M.M Chanda » Features
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Beyond the news - KundaTHE proposed K46.7 billion 2015 national budget is now in the public domain and several stakeholders have voiced their views on selected provisions in the financial plan that was unveiled to Parliament by Finance minister Alexander Chikwanda recently.
Apart from the changes in the mineral tax regime, increased funding towards education, transport and energy infrastructure development, there are other initiatives aimed at uplifting the welfare of Zambians.
In next year’s budget, under the social protection category, Government has allocated K180.6 million to the social cash transfer programme, K50 million to the food security pack and K32 million to the roll out of the school feeding programme.
The social cash transfer scheme is an important programme that government has been running to uplift the living standards of the disabled and the aged among other vulnerable people in society.
Public places in any part of Zambia are often a sorry site when one looks at the number of visually impaired elderly people begging for alms typically with the help of a young person holding their hand and leading the way.
Such groups of people have been deprived of initiatives such as the social cash transfer in the past to improve their welfare and it is high time that the status quo was changed.
Government should extend the provisions of the social cash transfer scheme beyond the provincial centres so that move vulnerable people are captured to benefit from the initiative.
The school feeding programme on the other hand should be a constant investment because there are households that are struggling to meet the requirements of three meals per day.
At primary level especially, the school feeding programme will be cardinal in fighting undernourishment and Mr Chikwanda is right on observing the need to continue rolling out this initiative.
The same applies for the food security pack which is essential towards achieving nutrition at household level.
Under health, Mr Chikwanda announced that government, in line with its objective of providing equitable access to quality health care for all, K4.5 billion would be spent on improving health services.
Next year, Zambia has to meet certain requirements regarding the provision of health services under the 2015 Millennium Development Goals (MDG’s) thus the further allocation of K268.2 million for the construction and rehabilitation of health infrastructure is key.
Further, the provision of K753.5 million for the procurement of essential drugs and medical supplies will contribute greatly to the reduction in child mortality rates and maternal deaths in line with goals one and five of the 2015 MDGs.
It must be stressed however that government needs to resolve the existing challenges involving the training and subsequent employment of health personnel in public health institutions.
Members of the public have continued to raise concerns about the quality of services being offered in public health institutions hence the government must step in to resolve any ambiguities.
There is no country that can develop if its inhabitants are uneducated because education is a key that can unlock so much success for the existing and future generations.
It is for this reason that the K9.4 billion allocated to the education sector in the 2015 budget spells a bright future for Zambia.
In an effort to reduce the pupil teacher ratio, government has proposed to spend 68 per cent of the total budget on the recruitment of 5,000 teachers, while K1.1 billion has set aside for infrastructure development for early child, primary and secondary education.
The pupil teacher ratio has been identified as one of the causes of poor performances in public schools at examination level and if the recruitment of 5,000 is realised come December 31, 2015, things are bound to change for the better.
The construction of additional student accommodation facilities at University of Zambia, Copperbelt University, Evelyn Hone College and Mulungushi University has been long overdue and government must ensure that this programme is expedited after an allocation of K650 million.
Students at these tertiary institutions have suffered for a long time with squatting and spending colossal amounts of money in makeshift sheds just to get a decent education and this should now be a thing of the past.
It will be good for government to complete the ongoing construction of the universities and trades training institutions in the provincial centres expeditiously so that tertiary education facilities are fully decentralised.
The debate on bursaries seems to have cooled down now with government announcing that K200.2 million would be provided under the scheme next year to rope in more beneficiaries.
What is left now is for Parliament to approve this financial plan and government to ensure that its implementation was successful to the benefit of every Zambian.
Feel free to send your comments and contributions to jameskunda91@gmail.com or call and text 0973182006.

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