Provincial needs: Balochistan CM asks for more development funds
Dr Malik calls upon newly inducted secretariat staff to cooperate with coalition government.
QUETTA:
Balochistan Chief Minister Dr Abdul Malik Baloch appealed for additional development funds on Friday after describing the current allocation of Rs35 billion – compared with the non-development budget of more than Rs135 billion – as inadequate.
Through this meagre amount, he said, “we have to ensure education to our children, cater to the demands of the health sector and spend on other sectors”.
The chief minister’s remarks came during Friday’s oath taking ceremony of newly elected members of Balochistan Civil Secretariat Association. Dr Malik said that Balochistan was granted the status of a province after a long political struggle yet we have still not taken good care of it.
“Some 70 per cent people in Balochistan are living below the poverty line. We all should have to stand together for the development of the province,” he said.
Dr Malik reeled off some other painful facts and figures as well: over two million children in Balochistan are out of school, while full health facilities can’t be extended to the people of Balochistan anytime soon. Even water supply to Quetta city can’t be guaranteed.
“We want to impart quality education to our children and provide complete health facilities to the public,” he said, adding that unless the government gets control over the increases in non-development budget, it cannot work for development of Balochistan.
Without proper financial discipline, the chief minister said, the government cannot even provide stationery to schools.
“Government servants, politicians and people hailing from all walks of life would have to play their role for the development and progress of the province,” he said, adding that we would have to bring change in our behaviour for the sake of development of the province.
He called upon the newly inducted secretariat staff and officers to extend full cooperation to the coalition government so that people could smoothly get their work done and files should not remain pending more than one day. Dr Malik said that we should realise our responsibilities and we should perform our duty with commitment and devotion.
Published in The Express Tribune, June 28th, 2014.
Balochistan Chief Minister Dr Abdul Malik Baloch appealed for additional development funds on Friday after describing the current allocation of Rs35 billion – compared with the non-development budget of more than Rs135 billion – as inadequate.
Through this meagre amount, he said, “we have to ensure education to our children, cater to the demands of the health sector and spend on other sectors”.
The chief minister’s remarks came during Friday’s oath taking ceremony of newly elected members of Balochistan Civil Secretariat Association. Dr Malik said that Balochistan was granted the status of a province after a long political struggle yet we have still not taken good care of it.
“Some 70 per cent people in Balochistan are living below the poverty line. We all should have to stand together for the development of the province,” he said.
Dr Malik reeled off some other painful facts and figures as well: over two million children in Balochistan are out of school, while full health facilities can’t be extended to the people of Balochistan anytime soon. Even water supply to Quetta city can’t be guaranteed.
“We want to impart quality education to our children and provide complete health facilities to the public,” he said, adding that unless the government gets control over the increases in non-development budget, it cannot work for development of Balochistan.
Without proper financial discipline, the chief minister said, the government cannot even provide stationery to schools.
“Government servants, politicians and people hailing from all walks of life would have to play their role for the development and progress of the province,” he said, adding that we would have to bring change in our behaviour for the sake of development of the province.
He called upon the newly inducted secretariat staff and officers to extend full cooperation to the coalition government so that people could smoothly get their work done and files should not remain pending more than one day. Dr Malik said that we should realise our responsibilities and we should perform our duty with commitment and devotion.
Published in The Express Tribune, June 28th, 2014.