Development for masses: Imran promises prosperous Balochistan in Naya Pakistan

Says it is a tragedy that many in the province still haven’t been provided basic necessities

QUETTA: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Chairman Imran Khan said on Sunday that investment in his ‘Naya Pakistan’ will be focused only on the welfare of the masses, especially those like the people of Balochistan who have been deprived of development until now.

Speaking to PTI workers in Dera Murad Jamali, Imran said that after observing the way the centre has treated Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa over the province’s due share of gas, electricity and water, he had also come to realise the extent of deprivation in Balochistan.

“It is a tragedy that the people of resource-rich Balochistan still haven’t been provided the basic necessities of life in the modern era,” he said. “Instead of meeting their needs, successive governments have prioritised projects like the Orange Line Train which allows them to pocket billions of rupees in commission.”

“Rs200 billion are being spent on the Orange Line Train, money which would have been used far better to complete Kachi Canal and provide water and bring economic prosperity to hundreds of thousands of people in Balochistan,” he added.

Imran said the government, instead of levying more and more taxes on the masses, should curb tax evasion, gas and electricity pilferage and smuggling.

He denounced the government’s plans to privatise state entities as a ‘loot sale’ and urged it to instead focus on making Pakistan International Airlines and Pakistan Steel Mills profitable.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 8^th,  2016.