QUETTA: The federal government came under fire in the Baloch­istan Assembly on Wednesday as members of the treasury and opposition benches joined hands to criticise Islamabad for not addressing the issue of denial of jobs to and alleged discrimination against local youths in the Foreign Office, Planning Commission, and autonomous and other organisations.

The chairman of the Public Acc­ounts Committee of the Balochistan Assembly, Abdul Majeed Achakzai, had on a call-attention notice taken up on Tuesday the issue of facilities/perks being enjoyed by officers of the Central Superior Services (CSS) on their appointments and postings in Balochistan.

Speaking on the issue in the house on Wednesday, Mr Achakzai said that CSS officers from other provinces got promotion to the next grades, one extra salary and four return air tickets along with other perks at the time of their posting/transfer to Balochistan, but officers belonging to Balochistan were denied all these facilities at the time of their transfer/posting to other provinces.

Islamabad behaving like the East India Company, says former CM

He also said that this unjust attitude of the government was creating a sense of deprivation among federal officers belonging to Balochistan.

“We are not against any federal government institution, but these institutions must change their attitude towards the people of Baloch­istan,” Mr Achakzai said and demanded that details of the amount paid to the federal government officers be presented in the house.

Former chief minister Dr Abdul Malik Baloch also criticised the federal government and said that it did not pay any heed to demands of the province.

He said that 110 autonomous corporations were working in the country, but there was no representation from Balochistan in these institutions.

He said the PPL and other federal government institutions were not implementing constitutional and mandatory job quotas of Balochistan in the civil service and educated youths of the province were being denied jobs in these institutions despite passing all their tests.

“We should not expect any positive response from Islamabad unless we struggle jointly for the legitimate rights of Balochistan and its people.

“We are not aware who is responsible for these injustices with the youth of Balochistan: the establishment or politicians,” Dr Baloch said, adding that he had written several letters to the federal government, but got no positive response.

“Islamabad is behaving like the East India Company,” the former chief minister of the province said.

Education Minister Abdul Rahim Ziaratwal, Mir Khalid Langove, deputy opposition leader Zamarak Khan Piralizai and other members also spoke on the issue and demanded that the province be given representation in all federal government or autonomous institutions. They pointed out that a large number of people living in other provinces got jobs on Balochistan quota on fake domiciles while educated youths of the province were running from pillar to post in search of jobs.

Published in Dawn, September 21st, 2017