QUETTA, June 26: Opposition and treasury benches on Thursday criticized Islamabad, saying that funds allocated for Balochistan were insufficient for its development requirements.

They were speaking on the provincial budget here.

Former chief minister and Pakistan Muslim League-Q member Mir Jan Mohammad Khan Jamali criticized the revenue sharing formula, saying that Balochistan, being 43 per cent of the country’s area, was not getting its share according to its needs.

“Balochistan cannot be developed in the next 100 years if funds continued to be distributed on the basis of population,” Jan Jamali said.

He also criticized the distribution of house building loans on the basis of political affiliations.

Mir Jan Mohammad Buledi of the Balochistan National Movement criticized the provincial budget, saying that the government had increased non-development expenditures despite having limited resources, adding that around Rs25 billion out of a total budget of Rs34 billion had been allocated in this regard.

Criticizing the federal government, he said that for Balochistan, it had allocated only Rs17 billion in the federal development programme, which was two per cent of the total federal budget.

He said that while Balochistan supplied 56 per cent gas to the country but the federal government decreased its share every year.

Mir Mohammad Aslam Bhootani, deputy speaker of the provincial assembly, praised the provincial budget, saying that it would enable the government to fulfil its electoral promises.

Dismissing the opposition’s allegations regarding unfair allocations of funds, he said that funds had been equally allocated to 65 MPAs, adding that each member of the provincial assembly had been allocated with Rs5 million.

Criticizing the opposition for opposing the construction of Gwadar port, he said that it would usher in a new era of development.

Dr Mrs Ruqaia Hashmi of the PML-Q criticized the government for not allocating enough funds for women sector, saying that there was a need to establish a micro credit bank for extending loans to women.