February 25, 2007	Sunday	Safar 7, 1428

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QUETTA, Feb 24: Federal Minister for Inter-Provincial Coordination Salim Saifullah Khan has said the government wants to award maximum provincial autonomy to the federating units by implementing the recommendations of the Parliamentary sub-committee on Balochistan. The committee is headed by Senator Mushahid Hussain Sayed.

Speaking at a public meeting in Dera Murad Jamali on Saturday, he said that the federal government had started implementing the recommendations on issues related to Balochistan, including the quantum of provincial autonomy.

He said that President Gen Pervez Musharraf was the great supporter of giving maximum powers to the provinces so they could solve their problems. He said more powers to the federating units would strengthen the federation.

He said that the federal government had launched a programme for providing jobs to the educated unemployed youths and Balochistan would get maximum share in the scheme.

He predicted that in the next general election the Pakistan Muslim League would win with a big majority in Balochistan on the basis of its performance.

Speaking on the occasion, the Deputy Chairman of the Senate, Mir Jan Mohammad Khan Jamali, said: “the Muslim League introduced political culture in the country and it was giving due respect and status to its workers."

Referring to the Balochistan situation, he said `foreign hand’ was found involved in worsening the situation in the province.

"The people of Balochistan would foil all attempts against their mother land," Jamali said.

State Minister for Petroleum and Natural Resources Mir Naseer Mengal also spoke on the occasion.

chief minister: Some people in Balochistan were as responsible for the under-development in the province and its sense of deprivation as the Centre, according to Balochistan Chief Minister Jam Mir Mohammad Yousuf.

Addressing a workers’ convention of the ruling PML in Dera Murad Jamali on Saturday, he said as the province’s rulers, these elements had adopted a policy of confrontation with the Centre, which greatly harmed Balochistan’s interests. “The (Pakistan) People’s Party and the Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) were also responsible for ignoring Balochistan,” he said.

He said that the present government was especially focussing on the province’s problems, removing the public sense of deprivation.

He said that steps taken by the present government would usher in an era of development and prosperity in the province.

Criticising anti-development forces, he said that they wanted to keep Balochistan under-developed in a bid to protect their personal interests, adding that they were not interested in making people prosperous.

Jam Yousuf said that the government had increased Balochistan’s constitutional quota in federal services up to 6 per cent and it had taken special steps to induct maximum number of educated Baloch youths in government service, including army and other institutions.

The Balochistan chief minister said that the president’s uniform was blocking the way of those parties and politicians who wanted to come into power through questionable means.

He announced a development package amounting to Rs50 million for Dera Murad Jamali and said that ownership rights would be given to the people of Kutchi Abadis. He also announced plans to build five bridges on the Bolan River.

Federal Minister Salim Saifullah, Mir Naseer Mengal, Deputy Chairman of the Senate Mir Jan Mohammad Jamali, provincial ministers Ghafoor Lehri, Mir Asim Kurd and other PML leaders also addressed the convention.