PHOTO: EXPRESS
QUETTA: The cabinet of Chief Minister Jam Kamal on Tuesday approved a Rs8 billion plan for the restructuring and strengthening of Levies Force, to be completed in four phases. The provincial cabinet took the decision after reviewing the recommendation made by the Levies DG.
Briefing the cabinet members, the DG Levies said the force needed modern training to handle the security challenges, especially in the remote areas of the province.
“There is need to establish Quick Response Force Wing, Operational Wing, Counterterrorism Wing, Digital Communication System, CPEC Security Wing, Bomb Disposal Squad, Intelligence Wing and Investigation Wing in Levies Force,” he added.
According to the DG, the Levies has been controlling law and order in 90 per cent area of Balochistan provinces, with 23,132 personnel on ground, out of which 13,227 have received modern combat training.
The cabinet agreed to strengthen the Levies, and decided to request the federal government to induct 2,000 new personnel into the force.
Moreover, the cabinet approved the establishment of an Institute of Cardiology in Balochistan. The institution would be completed under the supervision of Pakistan Army in one and a half years.
The cabinet also okayed the draft bill for setting up Gwadar University. The bill will be presented in the provincial assembly for debate.
The cabinet was informed that the Balochistan Revenue Authority has allotted 500 acres of land for the university, and the federal government has been requested to provide Rs5 billion for the project.
The Balochistan Services and General Administration Department (S&GAD) secretary told the cabinet that there were 24,000 vacant posts in various government departments. He said that the process for filling some 2,400 posts in his department had reached the last phase.
The cabinet decided to constitute a fact-finding committee to probe the appointments made on political basis during the previous regime and make recommendation for new appointments.
Members of the committee include provincial ministers Sardar Abdullah Rehman Kethran, Engineer Zamrak Khan Achakzai, Mir Zahoor Buledi, Adviser to CM Abdul Khaliq Hazara, Naseebullah Mari, officials from the Finance and Law department.
The cabinet also reviewed the development projects related to the Public Development Sector Programme 2018-19 while the advocate general of Balochistan informed the cabinet about the court ruling on the provincial PSDP.
The cabinet was given a detailed briefing regarding the loan offer from World Bank for the province’s various social and development projects. It reviewed the World Bank conditions for development loans and directed the authorities to make recommendations.
“The provincial government is responsible for providing relief to the people of Balochistan and we have been pursuing development projects while keeping in view the interest of the people,” said CM Kamal told the cabinet members.
COMMENTS
Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.
For more information, please see our Comments FAQ