The Planning Commission has approved the proposed Revised Annual Development Programme (RADP) worth Tk 2.0 trillion for the current fiscal year (FY2025-26), giving the highest priority to the transport and communications, power and energy, and housing sectors.
The extended meeting of the Planning Commission, held on Monday and chaired by Planning Adviser Dr Wahiduddin Mahmud, decided to place the proposal before the meeting of the National Economic Council (NEC), which is to be hosted soon.
Officials said the revised outlay is 13.04 per cent lower than the original ADP of Tk 2.3 trillion, approved ahead of the start of the fiscal year, as adjustments were made in line with resource constraints and implementation capacity.
As part of the rationalisation, allocations to several human resource development-related sectors, including health and social protection, have been sharply cut by over 70 per cent.
The education, agriculture, and religion, culture, and recreation sectors are set to see allocation reductions of more than 35 per cent due to sluggish project implementation, officials at the Planning Commission said.
Sources said that allocations for most sectors, along with ministries and divisions, are set to be reduced. However, the allocation for the Environment, Climate Change (CC), and Water Resources sector is set to be increased by Tk 21.28 billion, over 20 per cent of the original allocation.
The local government and rural development sector is set to receive a higher allocation by 12 per cent, while the defence sector will see an increase of 13 per cent.
On the other hand, the health sector is set to receive Tk 47.19 billion in the RADP, 74 per cent lower than the ADP allocation of Tk 181.48 billion. A cut worth Tk 134.30 billion would push the sector down to the ninth position among top recipient sectors in the RADP from the sixth position in the ADP.
The education sector is set to drop by Tk 99.95 billion, 35 per cent of the ADP allocation of Tk 285.57 billion, and its rank will fall to sixth from fourth in the ADP.
Among other top recipients, the power and energy sector would rank second with a revised allocation of Tk 262.38 billion, while housing and community amenities will receive the third-highest allocation of Tk 227.31 billion.
The allocation for the Local Government Division is set at Tk 375.31 billion, 18.77 per cent of the ADP, the highest among all ministries and divisions of the government. This represents a 4.0 per cent increase from the original allocation of Tk 360.99 billion. The division's share in the RADP is set to rise to 18.77 per cent from 14.35 per cent in the ADP.
The Medical Education and Family Welfare Division is set to receive Tk 13.58 billion, a cut of Tk 45.45 billion from the ADP. The division will face the highest reduction, losing 77 per cent of its allocation.
The Health Services Division will receive Tk 31.37 billion, 73 per cent lower than the ADP allocation of Tk 116.17 billion.
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