MMD Nalikwanda Member of Parliament (MP) Geoffrey Lungwangwa has said the Public Service Management Division (PSMD) should put in place a development plan for the country's human resource base.

This, he said, would assist in implementing developmental programmes according to the available skilled manpower.

Professor Lungwangwa said this when debating the budget allocation for the PSMD in the 2013 national Budget in Parliament on Thursday.

He said developing a human resource database for the civil service would add impetus to the growth of the economy.

The MP said the PSMD should also tailor an effective training programme for public service workers from all key sectors of the economy.

"This must be done in the interest of the country. The civil service needs a serious training programme and the PSMD should have a human resource database of the civil service for the country's economic sectors," he said.

He said research programmes should be encouraged under the PSMD and strengthened at the same time.

Chilubi Patriotic Front MP Obius Chisala called for the decentralisation of the PSMD to district level.

Mr Chisala said the division was critical to the public service.

Closing the debate on the contributions to the PSMD policy statement, Vice-President Guy Scott thanked the MPs for their contributions and reiterated calls on the need to have a civil service that would work closely with the Government's developmental vision.