Balochistan’s development govt’s top priority

ISLAMABAD: The federal government is committed to providing maximum share from the federal pool to Balochistan for its speedy development and bringing it at par with other provinces, a senior official said on Monday.

Addressing a national workshop on Balochistan, Federal Minister for Planning Asad Umar said that it was the prime minister’s vision that the state should give priority to the development of the most backward areas of the country and; therefore, special development packages have been announced for Southern Balochistan, Gilgit-Baltistan, and 14 priority districts of Sindh along with the Karachi Transformation Plan.

Highlighting the Southern Balochistan development package, he said, it consists of 199 projects, the total cost of the package is Rs601 billion, which focuses on providing employment opportunities, health and education facilities, and digital connectivity to the Balochistan region.

The digital Balochistan would significantly contribute to employment generation for the people of the region.

Various segments of society, including politicians and notables of Balochistan regardless of the social and political affiliations attended the workshop, which aimed at enabling the exchange of perspectives among the participants through the lens of Balochistan.

Later, Special Assistant to Prime Minister on CPEC Affairs Khalid Mansoor briefed the participants on the projects being executed under CPEC initiatives and said that substantial work is being done to develop the Balochistan region.

The development of Balochistan would not only connect it with other provinces but would pave the way for regional connectivity.

Parliamentary Secretary Kanwal Shauzab, deputy chairman of the Planning Commission, Planning secretary, additional secretary, and the adviser to the prime minister on maritime affairs were also present on the occasion.