QUETTA: Balochistan Chief Minister Dr Abdul Malik Baloch has said it is the constitutional obligation of the government to provide protection to people, adding that the role of police and other law-enforcement agencies in this regard cannot be ignored.

Speaking at the ground- breaking ceremony of a training school for Anti-Terrorist Force (ATF) at the eastern bypass area on Friday, he said the government was taking all steps to provide maximum training opportunities to police and other law-enforcement agencies so that they could fulfil their responsibilities diligently.

The ATF training school would be constructed at a cost of Rs145 million.

Provincial Home Minister Mir Sarfaraz Bugti, Home Secretary Akbar Hussain Durrani, Inspector General Police Mushtaq Ahmed Sukhera and Commissioner Quetta division Qambar Dashti were present at the ceremony.

The chief minister asked the under-training police cadets to perform their duties with dedication and according to the constitution as it was “our country and we have to work for its betterment.”

He lauded the efforts of the IGP and said that by taking major steps he had restored the law and order situation in the province.

He said the government was extending all financial help to the police department for making the force more effective.

“We have provided an additional amount of Rs3 billion to the police department which was protecting the life and property of the people,” Dr Baloch said.

Home Minister Mir Sarfaraz Bugti said that under the leadership Dr Baloch, the current government was striving hard to bring improvement to the overall law and order. “Police have been purged of all kinds of influence and political pressure which has helped to restore peace in the province.”

Published in Dawn, June 7th, 2014