June 28, 2006	Wednesday	Jumadi-ul-Sani 1, 1427

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QUETTA, June 27: The provincial assembly passed the fiscal budget for year 2006-07 that is estimated to be Rs47.70 billion and the majority of the members of the house rejected all the cut motions tabled by opposition members pertaining to supplementary demands.

Speaker Jamal Shah Kakar chaired the session.

Finance Minister Ehsan Shah presented 41 supplementary demands for Rs36.50 billion for non-development expenditures and four supplementary grants for Rs10.80 billion for development expenditures that were approved by the house with a majority of votes on Tuesday night.

Opposition legislators staged token walkout to protest against details of the supplementary demands for development expenditures not being disclosed.

Opposition members Kachkol Ali, Abdur Rahim Ziaratwal, Sardar Azam Musakhel, Mir Akbar Mengal and Akhtar Hussain Lango tabled their cut motions on the supplementary demands.

Opposition members stated that huge grants of Rs2.90 billion for general administration, Rs2.60 billion for police, Rs1.06 billion for education, Rs1.20 billion for health, and Rs1.1 billion for agriculture had been allocated for the aforementioned departments but their performance was unsatisfactory.

They asserted that the basic aim of public servants was to serve the people to resolve their problems but arrogant bureaucrats never followed this principle, causing great hardships to the citizens for solution of their issues.

Criticizing police performance opposition members alleged that the law-enforcement agency totally failed to protect the life and property of the people and stated that citizens suffered at the hands of police officials who did not provide them justice.

They lamented over the existing conditions of government hospitals in Quetta and other district headquarters of the province, saying patients were not provided medicines besides doctors preferred their practice in private clinics instead of performing their official duty in government hospitals.

Opposition legislators said that the situation in educational institutions was deplorable as they needed greater attention for improvement of the education standard, adding that basic facilities needed to be provided to students in government schools.

Referring to supplementary demands for the agriculture sector the movers claimed that 60 per cent people of Balochistan depended on agriculture but the role of the agriculture department was condemnable.

They stated that their cut motions on all 46 supplementary demands were meant to divert the attention of the leader of the house and people that bureaucrats, police officials, doctors, teachers and government employees in different departments were inefficient and insincere to utilize funds and serve the people honestly.

The session was adjourned sine die.