Rs152 billion Balochistan budget unveiled

The Balochistan government unveiled its annual budget for the financial year 2010-11 with a record outlay of Rs152 billion.

The Balochistan government on Monday unveiled its annual budget for the financial year 2010-11 with a record outlay of Rs152 billion, reflecting a deficit of Rs7.1 billion. The size of the budget is bloated by the province’s enhanced share from the federal divisible pool, an increase in payment on natural gas royalty and arrears being paid by the federal government this year.

Finance Minister Mir Asim Kurd, who presented the budget in the Balochistan Assembly, said that the development outlay has been scaled up to Rs26 billion from the previous year’s level of Rs18 billion. This includes a component of foreign assistance to the tune of Rs3.9 billion.

Crucially, the provincial government has set aside Rs2 billion for the rehabilitation of rain and cyclone victims on the Makran coast.

The total revenue receipts are estimated at Rs115 billion, including arrears from gas development surcharge (GDS) and gas wellhead prices, and the capital receipts of Rs29.39 billion.

The size of Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP) will be around Rs22 billion while foreign assistance programme will be worth Rs3.9 billion, including the Japanese assistance for rebuilding the Pasni Fish Harbour.

The government is planning to retire a sizable debt burden by paying back Rs1.7 billion under Cash Development Loan (CDL) and Rs9 billion under public debt.  The federal government had picked up Rs 17.5 billion bank overdraft, an emergency credit facility by the State Bank of Pakistan, obtained by the past PML-Q government of Jam Yusuf. The previous government was involved in overspending and sought overdraft from the central bank in violation of rules. The provincial government had to pay a huge amount of money as debt servicing. At certain stage, more than a quarter of revenue of the provincial government had been spent paying bank overdraft, CDL and other costly loans.

The new budget proposes to spend the highest sum of money during the next fiscal year on general administration – Rs 18.5 billion. Education is to get Rs17.3 billion and law and order (policing) Rs12.5 billion.

There is a huge jump in expenditure on public order and safety because of an upsurge in violence and beefing up of the provincial security apparatus. The government had already provided over 11,000 jobs or regularised the new recruits. It now plans to beef up the Balochistan Levies, the community police system in Balochistan.

The revival of Levies Force has always remained a priority of the present government, the minister told the house. Indeed this time-tested law enforcement agency was effectively maintaining public order in 95 per cent of the province at an affordable cost. The force enjoyed the ownership of the people of Balochistan and had the best possible cooperation of the Baloch and Pakhtun tribes in curbing crime.

“We still recall the commitment of Nawab Aslam Raisani just after assuming responsibilities as chief minister to revive the force and feel proud to say that today that we have reverted back to the system of policing in rural areas as per the aspirations of the people of Balochistan,” Kurd told the house.

With an allocation of Rs10 billion for law-enforcement agencies, the provincial government has decided to increase salary of the uniformed personnel of Police, Levies and Balochistan Constabulary by 100 per cent.

The government has regularised approximately 5,500 police personnel who were recruited through ‘Conversion of B into A Area Project’. Similarly, approximately 6,000 personnel of Balochistan Constabulary have also been regularised who were appointed by the federal government under an identical scheme.

He said government intends to recruit some 1,500 personnel in Levies Force to revamp their performance.

The minister told the house that there are 1.1 million school-going children in Balochistan and over 0.7 million children lacked basic education facilities. The government has decided to allocate Rs1 billion to provide for missing facilities in educational institutions. Of this, Rs200 million have been set aside for purchase of furniture and Rs400 million for repair and renovation of schools, especially in the rural areas which were badly neglected during the district government system.

Similarly a sum of Rs200 million has been allocated for repair and renovation of colleges.

Balochistan coastal belt has engaged nearly 50,000 fishermen for their livelihood with a 1.2 million metric ton fish catch and creating a R9 billion space in the provincial GDP, the minister informed the house.

The government has dedicated 5,000 posts provided by the federal government under the Aghaz-i-Haqooq-i-Balochistan Package to the education sector. The government has created 2000 fresh positions in education department, the minister said.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 22^nd, 2010.