QUETTA: The Balo­chistan cabinet has finalised a plan for creation of 20,000 jobs in the province.

Media coordinator Azeem Kakar of the ruling Balochistan Awami Party (BAP) claimed this in a press conference on Friday.

He said the provincial government had introduced new laws, introduced reforms and monitored 700 development projects in the past four months.

He said the cabinet decided that the government land would be leased out to foreign investors and companies instead of selling the land. “It is a big decision which resolved the issue of selling or allotting government land to foreign companies forever.”

He said Chief Minister Jam Kamal Khan Alyani had demanded an increase of nine per cent in the Balochistan’s share in the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor projects and also sought Chinese assistance in fisheries, mining and other sectors.

Besides, he said, the provincial cabinet had declared an emergency in the health and education sectors and announced a grant of Rs500 million for drought-hit areas. The provincial government had also established a task force to examine the situation of drought-hit areas, Mr Kakar said.

The provincial government while preparing the plan for creation of 20,000 jobs had also raised the maximum age limit of candidates from 33 to 43 years, he said.

He said the Balochistan Assembly approved a draft for establishment of the Gwadar University and the government allocated 500 acre of land and a grant of Rs1 billion for the varsity.

The Chief Minister’s Complaint Cell was receiving public complaints on a daily basis and subsequently informing the chief minister about complaints, Mr Kakar said.

Mr Kakar said the chief minister had given additional powers to commissioner and deputy commissioners and also released funds for controlling the drought-like situation. The government was also paying attention to sports activities in all divisional headquarters, he added.

Published in Dawn, January 5th, 2019