BALOCHISTAN plans to identify urban and rural growth centres to kick-start planned development of the province.

The strategy unveiled recently focuses on improving basic physical and social infrastructure to open up economic opportunities for the people and to catch up with the country’s advanced regions.

The framework, developed by the Policy Reform Unit, was presented at a donors’ forum in Islamabad earlier this month. The key sectors spotted for special attention included water, roads, energy, education and health. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif endorsed the plan and the UNDP actively supported the evolution of the ‘Comprehensive Development Strategy (CDS) 2013-2020’.

Economist Kaisar Bengali, who heads Chief Minister Dr Abdul Malik Baloch’s team, gave out details of the 14 zones that can drive growth in the least developed province. Among others, he identified Quetta, Gwadar, Turbat, Khuzdar, Hub, Loralai, Zhob and Nasirabad.

This was followed up with proposed road projects envisaged for better connectivity, as 350,000 square km of the biggest province in area, with thinly spread 10m population, is at the bottom in terms of road density. Against the average of 0.32 for the country, at 0.16, the province’s road density is half the national average.

The insufficient road network, however, is not an exception. The discontent and its ramification are too loud in the province to go unnoticed. It is now fully recognised that Balochistan — which has been supplying cheap gas to the rest of the country since decades and enjoys a mention every time the topic of mineral wealth crops up — did not get the attention and resources it required for progress.


The size of the PSDP increased from Rs18.5bn in 2009-10 to Rs47.9bn in 2014-15, with the improvement limited to certain towns and districts


It is not surprising that Balochistan fared relatively worse than all other provinces on the Millennium Development Goals and will miss all the projected targets. The fact is that the return to democracy in 2008 and the greater inflow of resources after the 7th NFC Award 2010 did not translate into tangible benefits for the poor Baloch, struggling for a decent life in ‘killis’ and ‘mohallahs’ of the province. Poverty in the province is projected at 45pc, against the national average of 34pc.

Balochistan CM Dr Malik reportedly said the province needs a three-pronged strategy that focuses on institutional, infrastructural and human resource development. Why the strategy does not seem to be delivering was not explained. The plan is all about infrastructure development, and from the paper emailed to Dawn by the Policy Reform Unit, there is nothing on institution building or anything specific on manpower training.

Some businessmen and professionals reached over phone expressed skepticism over the provincial economic team’s exercise in Islamabad. They doubted the skills and intentions of the team, which, they felt, is directed at getting more resources while ignoring the pitfalls of patronage-based mismanagement of resources in the province.

“What Balochistan gained in resources post-7th NFC Award was lost to the politics of coalition in the absence of a stable institutional framework in the province. Democracy boosted the fortunes and careers of its leaders, but the trickle down was lesser than the low national average,” a frustrated senior bureaucrat said.

“The size of an inefficient top heavy government was allowed to expand. The new inductions and the frequent salary revisions bloated the size of the current expenditure to an extent where it further compromised the ability to perform efficiently. The federal government shifted the financial burden of 5,000 new teachers appointed under the much-hyped Aghaz-e-Huqooq-e-Balochistan in 2005 to the province. It added up to consume a high 78.5pc of the total budget of the province, leaving barely 22.5pc for development,” he told this writer over telephone from Quetta.

The size of the PSDP increased from Rs18.5bn in 2009-10 to Rs47.9bn in 2014-15, with the improvement limited to certain towns and districts. A closer study of the current PSDP reveals that of the total amount, Rs30.5bn has been allocated for 1,077 new schemes, against Rs17.4bn for ongoing projects.

“The priority is given to political expediency. It is not an accident that the development work is concentrated in the hometowns of the chief minister, speaker, finance minister and the planning and development minister. Even a blind person can see the method in this madness,” remarked another stakeholder.

Another insider who has headed various economic ministries in the past was cautious. “The situation in my unfortunate homeland is too complex for casual comments. It is easy to criticise everyone left, right and centre, but that is no solution. Yes, there is always room for improvement, but the current team of rulers is better than what we have had over the past few decades. I am not equipped for an informed critique of the CDS, but a strategy when there was none for me is a good start,” the senior officer gave a guarded reply to a query.

A businessman objected to the idea of ruling the province from Islamabad. “When the chief minister of KP joined the PTI sit-in in Islamabad for a few months, he received scathing criticism. Why is no one criticising the provincial hierarchy of Balochistan that is permanently camped there? Just count the number of days spent by chief ministers in the capital. I can bet the time spent by the Balochistan CM would be more than the collective time spent by all the others. Is there any defence for this behaviour?” he asked.

Dr Kaisar defended the strategy, which, he said, will wipe out unemployment as it will benefit 1.5m families by providing a job to at least one member per family in less than 10 years.

Mir Hasil Bazenjo, the leader of the ruling coalition, and Chief Minister Dr Abdul Malik Baloch were approached but their response did not reach this scribe before the deadline.

Published in Dawn, Economic & Business, February 23rd , 2015

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