Budget debates: Balochistan legislators call for investigations into corruption

Assembly members hail the proposed budget, education allocations.

QUETTA: Legislators in the Balochistan Assembly on Monday demanded that a high-level committee should be formed which impartially investigates corruption in development schemes.

The legislators hailing from treasury and opposition benches made the demand during the session of Balochistan Assembly on Monday with Speaker Jan Muhammad Jamali in the chair.

Provincial budget

While debating on provincial budget 2013-14, deputy opposition leader Engineer Zamaruk Khan Achakzai applauded chief minister for preparing a people friendly budget and hoped the opposition members would also be given importance.

Achakzai though regretted that while development funds had been allocated in the budget, no scheme had been identified. He said there were concerns that these schemes would be given to treasury members and the opposition would be mistreated.

“We are democratic people and would compete democratically if government did not work in line with constitution.”

Pashtoon Khuwa Milli Awami (PkMAP) member William Barkat said that government come up with a balanced budget within a limited time period. “Keeping education on top priority is a historic step as through up-gradation of 300 primary, middle and high schools could bring a revolution in educational sector of the province.”

Barkat added that if scholarships of Rs5 billion had been given to the deserving students then backwardness and illiteracy could be eradicated from the province. The coalition parliamentarian stressed that the presence of teachers and doctors in schools and hospitals should be ensured so that the education sector could develop.

The PkMAP member regretted that in the past quotas allocated for minorities was not implemented and the posts for minorities were given to Muslims. He urged that minorities quota should be implement.

PkMAP member Spozhmai said that those who were criticising the budget and describing it as a manipulation of words should at least answer the people what they had done in the past 10 years.

“If the budget of Balochistan had been spent properly by previous governments then there would have been revolutionary developments in the province.”

PkMAP leader Dr Hamid Achakzai told the house that the government, despite the critical situation, has presented a good budget, adding that his party had always talked about equality among all nationalities be it in centre or the province. “The issue of equality between Balochs and Pashtoons would be resolved.”

Dr Achakzai said that Pashtoon religious leaders were branding those Pashtoon political parties as anti-Islam and Pakistan who were trying to unify the Pashtoons divided by the British.

He also expressed grave concern over deteriorating law and order in the province, saying terrorism could not be controlled by police and Frontier Corps because there were still people like Gen Ziaul Haq, who believed in flying their flag on forts and get control of Afghanistan.

“Army should take out such people from its ranks having such thinking.”

Leader of Jamiat UlemaeIslam-Fazal (JUI-F) Mufti Ghulab Shah debating on the budget said that police and Levies Force were trying to maintain law and order in Zhob-Sherani areas which bordered with Afghanistan and Khabar Pakhtunkwa where lawlessness and Talibanisation was mounting.

“Police and Levies should be equipped with modern weapons and technology so that their performance could be better.”

National Party leader Khalid Langove said that the budget was in accordance with the aspirations of people as the province was facing hard time during the past 65 years.

Langove stressed that the issues, including recovery of decomposed dead bodies, missing persons and sectarianism should be addressed. He added that if the US could hold dialogue with the Taliban then why could not we do the same with people in the country.