QUETTA: The Chief Minister of Balochistan, Dr Abdul Malik Baloch, urged councillors to convince their political parties to opt for devolution of powers up to the local council level in the province.

He was speaking at a conference titled ‘Community Driven Development’ organised by the Balochistan Rural Support Programme (BRSP) in collaboration with the European Union (EU) and Rural Support Programme Network (RSPN) on Wednesday.

“We are constantly struggling for the decentralisation of powers to local bodies,” said Malik Baloch. “This could play a vital role in reducing poverty in the province.”

“Our forefathers, including Mir Ghaus Bakhsh Bizenjo and Khan Abdul Samad Khan Achakzai, struggled against the One Unit policy,” he said. “Similarly we strived for 18th Constitutional Amendment.” He said they had gained provincial autonomy and now wanted to devolve powers to local bodies.

The chief minister claimed that poverty was a worldwide issue but its impact was worse and more complicated in Balochistan. He said the coalition government with limited resources was trying hard to eradicate poverty.

Balochistan, he said, was a vast area and needed support from the EU and other international communities to help the province get rid of poverty.

According to Dr Baloch, his government and his party [National Party] were both in favour of decentralisation at the local bodies level. He said this could lead to an increase in local bodies funds from one to 10 per cent.

He added that they had Rs40 billion for development of the province and this was an insufficient amount. “We should work hard and defeat poverty,” he said. “Our friends and members of the local government can play a crucial role in this regard.”

He appointed MPA Raheela Durrani as the focal person and directed her to collect proposals made by different non-governmental organisations. He also asked her to check how these proposals could be implemented.

The CM rejected the notion that no development had taken place in the education sector and said a lot had changed.

“More than 5,000 vacancies in the education department are being filled through the National Testing Service contrary to the past when nepotism was encouraged and merit was ignored,” Dr Baloch said.

He added that cheating in exams was still going on but the government had started a campaign against this and would report positive results soon.

The chief executive officer of BRSP, Nadir Gul Barrech, BRSP Chairman Sardar Naseer Khan Tareen, RSPN’s chairman Shoaib Sultan Khan, MPA Raheela Durrani, Sardar Raza Muhammad Barrech, adviser to chief minster on education, along with representatives from the EU and International Labour Organisation also spoke.

Published in Dawn, August 20th, 2015

On a mobile phone? Get the Dawn Mobile App: Apple Store | Google Play