QUETTA, Jan 5: The Provincial Chief Minister, Jam Mir Mohammad Yousaf, on Sunday said that Balochistan should be given funds from the federal divisible pool in accordance with its requirements.

“I hope the president and the prime minister will resolve all long-standing problems of this under-developed province. I also hope that Balochistan will get funds according to its needs,” Jam Yousaf said in a statement on Sunday after meeting with various federal ministers in Islamabad.

He said that more efforts were needed to bring this province at par with other developed provinces of the country despite the efforts of President Gen Pervez Musharraf and Prime Minister Mir Zaffarullah Jamali to resolve the problems being faced by this province.

He said that elimination of unemployment was among the top priorities of his government, adding that he was contacting the federal government departments so that Balochistan could get its constitutional quota in the federal services.

He said that the problem of joblessness could be resolved to some extent through implementation of the constitutional quota in the federal services.

Jam Yousaf said that improvement of law and order in the province was also one of the priorities of his government, adding that effective measures were being taken in this regard.

He said that government had also taken steps for improving the performance of police in the province.

Jam Yousaf said that police and other law enforcing agencies should perform their duties with dedication for maintaining peace and providing protection to the common man.

Stressing that his government believed in punishing laxity and rewarding efficiency, he said that action would be taken against officials violating rules and regulations while officials performing their duties with honesty and dedication would be duly rewarded.

He said that he would not allow anybody to destroy the peaceful atmosphere and law and order in the province, adding that strict action would be taken against those who were found to be involved in creating law and order problem.

Referring to the drought situation, the chief minister said that the government had already started providing health facilities in the drought-hit areas and two heath centres have been set-up while food relief operation would be launched on an emergency basis.

He said that the government was assessing losses in the drought-hit areas of the province and more steps would be taken after completion of the assessment.