EXPRESSING his determination to bring Balochistan at par with other areas of the country, Prime Minister Imran Khan, on Friday, announced a mega development package for the provision of basic facilities like gas, electricity, water and internet in nine southern districts of the province. He claimed Balochistan lagged behind due to the fact that Punjab, Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa had the maximum population and the major political parties did not need votes from the Balochistan province to form a government at the federal level.
Balochistan is, no doubt, the largest province of the country and regrettably its people face fundamental problems even after over seven decades of independence and this feeling is one of the major causes of sense of deprivation among Baloch people. The Prime Minister has rightly pointed out that uniform development of all units of the federation was important for overall progress of the country. The package announced by him is a step in the right direction as provision of electricity, gas, water and internet facilities is intrinsically linked to the process of overall development. Creation of basic infrastructure including roads and highways as well as establishment of educational institutions were also vital in accelerating the pace of progress and development. The announcement of the Prime Minister to increase scholarships for Baloch students is welcome but the question arises why Baloch students were forced to lodge protests on roads against stoppage of scholarship by some universities. It would also be unfair to say that the past rulers did not pay any heed to the development needs of Balochistan as successive governments including democratically elected and military rulers announced hefty development packages during their tenures. However, it is also a fact that none of the packages was implemented fully because of political issues and law and order situation, which is being fanned by some vested interests at the behest of their foreign masters. There are also reasons to believe that Sardars as well as rampant corruption have been major impediments to initiation of development schemes in different parts of the province. These vested interests have politicized the issue of exploitation of vast mineral resources of the province and are on record having digested even the royalty on these resources, which should otherwise have gone to the provincial kitty. Therefore, for any package to succeed, the Government must first sort out political issues, improve governance and take effective measures to curb corruption. There is also need to expedite implementation of all CPEC-related projects in Balochistan and especially in Gwadar as these are destined to expedite the march of people of the province towards socio-economic progress and prosperity.
