very little distinction between these and district schemes, as indicated by the similar average size of these schemes. By contrast, the district is able to distinguish itself much more from the province in roads and water and sanitation by focusing on smaller schemes. The average district road scheme is one-tenth the size of a provincial scheme, and the average water and sanitation scheme onetwentieth the size. The reason it can do so is that physical infrastructure is intrinsically more ‘heterogeneous’ than social infrastructure — roads and drains come in all sizes whereas primary schools and basic health units are all quite similar. This heterogeneity

**Figure 11: Average size of district and provincial schemes**

<!-- Start of picture text --> Average size of development schemes executed in specific<br>districts (Rs.Thousand)<br>16,000 14,839<br>14,000 Province<br>12,000<br>10,000<br>Province<br>8,000<br>6,000 Tied grants 5,786<br>4,000 Tied grants 3,102<br>2,174<br>2,000 1,288 930 1,481<br>281<br>0<br>Education Health Roads Water & sanitation<br>District Tied grants or province<br> Source : P&D department and district<br>governments<br><!-- End of picture text --> allows for ‘specialization’, enabling district policy-makers to focus on and to take credit for the small, neighborhood schemes and provincial policy-makers to take credit for the larger ones.

The above data also suggests that many districts have responded to the provincial initiatives in education and health by essentially ceding all responsibility for these sectors to the province. For example, districts, such as Bhawalnagar, Mianwali, Narowal, Rajanpur, and Toba Tek Singh allocated either zero or negligible development funds to health in their ADPs in 2006/07. Similarly, Bhakkar, Bhawalnagar, Jhelum, and Mianwali had no education schemes in their ADPs.

**Figure 12: Trends in Punjab real setoral district and provincial ADP allocations**

<!-- Start of picture text --> Growth in provincial real development allocations Real district ADP allocations (2003/04 to 2006/07)<br>15001400 Roads 180 Roads<br>1300 160<br>1200<br>1100 140 Electrification<br>1000 120<br>900<br>800 100<br>Education<br>700<br>600 80 Health<br>500 60<br>400300 Health 40 Education<br>200<br>100 W&S 20<br>0 0<br>2001/02 2002/03 2003/04 2004/05 2005/06 2006/07 2003/04 2004/05 2005/06 2006/07<br><!-- End of picture text --> _Note:_ Trends in district ADP is based on data for 13 districts of Punjab _Source_ : P&D department, and district governments This replacement of district social sector funding by the province is also evident in the sectoral trends in the provincial and district ADPs (Figure 12). Provincial real development allocations for roads and education have increased significantly in the post-devolution period. Road allocations have risen fourteen-fold in real terms between 2001/02 and 2006/07, and education allocations six-fold (Figure 12, left panel). By contrast, consolidated district education ADP allocations (based on available data from 13 Punjab districts) have declined by approximately 50 percent in real terms from 2003/04 to 2006/07. District health allocations have also declined in real terms over this period, while provincial health allocations have roughly doubled from 2001/02. Districts’ prioritization of physical infrastructure is again evident, with roads allocations increasing by 70 percent and rural electrification by 30 percent.

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