QUETTA: Adviser to Chief Minister on Finance Mir Abdul Khaliq Lango has assured the opposition members that their reservation will be addressed and that efforts are under way to resolve people’s problems.

Winding up the debate on the budget for the year 2015-16 in the Balochistan Assembly on Monday, he said the government had allocated funds for health sector to provide modern equipment to Bolan Medical Complex and Sandeman Civil Hospital.

He said that an amount of Rs13 billion had been allocated for the agri-culture sector to offer subsidy to growers in the province and added that the funds would be utilised in various schemes, including purchase of 50 bulldozers.

Mr Lango said that in order to improve law and order the army had been training the police and Levies personnel and expressed the hope that the trained police personnel would perform their duty of protecting the lives of people in a better way.

He said the government always welcomed positive criticism by the opposition members and assured the house that government would remove just reservations of opposition members.

Earlier participating in the debate, the treasury bench members Nawab Ayaz Jogezai, Jaffar Khan Mandokhel, Izhar Khoso, Liaquat Agha, Sardar Reza Mohammad Barach, Dr Shama Ishaq, Manzoor Kakar, Yasmin Lehri, Prince Ahmed Ali and Obaidullah Babat noted that huge allocations had been made for the education and health sectors that would benefit the common men.

They said there were 70,000 schoolteachers in the education department but their performance was not satisfactory, adding that recruitment in the department had been made just to accommodate unemployed youths.

They complained that people in Quetta city were facing drinking water problem as the Water and Sanitation Authority had failed to ensure regular supply of water.

Opposition members Maulvi Muhazullah, Haji Gulab and Husna Bano were critical of the budget.

They said a budget prepared by bureaucrats could not resolve the problems being faced by people.

They claimed that the government had ignored the opposition members in allocation of funds for development projects in their constituencies.

Published in Dawn, June 23rd, 2015

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