19 October 2004	Tuesday	04 Ramazan 1425

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QUETTA, Oct 18: The Balochistan Assembly on Monday adopted a resolution asking the federal government to fix the province's quota in the civil superior services (CSS) on the basis of the 1998 census, i.e. 5.4 per cent.

The resolution tabled by PPP's Shafique Ahmed Khan demanded that the federal government should implement the 1998 census quota of 5.4 per cent in the CSS for Balochistan as at present the 1981 census quota of 3.4 per cent was being implemented due to which a large number of deserving candidates did not get federal jobs.

Speaking on the resolution, the PPP member said that 14 candidates who had passed the CSS examination would not be able to get jobs due to the quota based on the 1981 census, adding the federal government was undermining the constitutional requirements by following the old quota.

Speaker Jamal Shah Kakar, who presided over the session, constituted a committee to review the rules of procedures of the Balochistan Assembly. It would be headed by Minister for Services and General Administration Mir Abdur Rehman Jamali, while its other members included Health Minister Hafiz Hamadullah, former chief minister Mir Jan Jamali, opposition leader Kachkol Ali Baloch and PMAP leader Abdur Rahim Ziaratwal.

Majid Khan Achakzai of the PMAP moved another resolution through which the assembly asked the provincial government to direct the Frontier Corps not to close the Shalabagh from 10pm to 7am as the people faced hardships in travelling between Quetta and Chaman. The house approved the resolution.

Through another resolution tabled by Mir Jan Jamali, the assembly demanded that the federal government should include Russian rice in the export list which would not only benefit the growers of Jaffarabad, Nasirabad and Jhal Magsi, it would also boost the provincial agriculture sector.

The house passed the fourth resolution tabled by Mohammad Naseem Turyalai through which closure of refugee camps in Piralizai, Surkhab, Roghani, Nurak, Sulemankhel and other areas was demanded as these camps had been occupied by criminals after the departure of Afghan refugees to their homeland.

Deputy Speaker Mir Aslam Bhootani, who presided over the session briefly, asked the government on an adjournment motion tabled by Mr Ziaratwal to implement the schemes identified by members in the prime minister's special package for drought-affected areas.

The finance minister informed the house that the cabinet would release the remaining amount of Rs10 million under the MPAs fund allocated by the federal government after the planning and development department approved their projects. Kachkol Baloch, Mr Ziaratwal and Sardar Azam Musakhel complained that the government had withheld their funds of Rs5 million, saying the funds would lapse if not released by Dec 31, 2004.

Another adjournment motion tabled by opposition members was disposed of when the chief minister assured the house that the government would hold a meeting with opposition members to resolve the tubewell issue. However, the senior minister while rejecting the charges of opposition members, said the movers would be accommodated.

The general debate on an adjournment motion of Sardar Musakhel and others relating to deforestation in the Musakhel district besides the joint motion of opposition members regarding drought in different areas of Balochistan could not be completed due to lack of quorum.

The speaker referred the Balochistan Law Officers' Bill, 2004, to the house committee after opposition members sought amendments to the bill that was moved by the minister for law and parliamentary affairs. The speaker stated that according to rules of procedure of assembly, the law minister, the deputy speaker and the advocate-general of Balochistan could become members of the committee to review amendments to the bill.