QUETTA: The Balochistan government on Wednesday nominated leading economist Kaiser Bengali as the non-official member of the National Finance Commission Award to represent Balochistan in meetings for the award.

Balochistan Minister for Finance Mir Zahoor Ahmed Buledi confirmed the nomination of Mr Bengali and said it was a good choice to plead Balochistan’s case in the NFC.

“Mr Bengal will present a strong case of Balochistan in the NFC meetings,” Mr Buledi said, adding that the province had prepared a strong case to get its due share in the NFC.

He said Balochistan was enjoying constitutional cover for its share in federal resources.

Mr Bengali, he said, also represented Balochistan in the 2009 NFC Award and then he had been appointed by former chief minister Dr Abdul Malik Baloch.

Earlier, Chief Minister Jam Kamal Khan had nominated former information minister Javed Jabbar to represent Balochistan in the NFC award, but he faced strong opposition from the opposition parties.

Lawyers’ organisations and MNA Muhammad Aslam Bhootani challenged Mr Jabbar’s nomination in the Balochistan High Court, saying that Mr Jabbar did not belong to Balochistan and he had no knowledge of the province.

Later, Mr Jabbar resigned from the post.

Published in Dawn, July 23rd, 2020