Committees formed to carry forward PM’s development vision in Balochistan

ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives Asad Umar on Wednesday set up two special committees to carry forward the prime minister’s vision of equitable development in underprivileged parts of Balochistan

The minister constituted the committees while chairing a meeting to discuss various issues related to development work in the Balochistan province.

Minister for Maritime Affairs, Minister for Water Resources, Minister for Industries and Production, Minister for Information and Technology, Advisor to PM on Commerce, Deputy Chairman Planning Commission, Secretary Planning and senior officials belonging to 10 ministries attended the meeting.

Asad Umar tasked the different ministries to prepare a programme on fast-track basis for the development of Gwadar and Balochistan, particularly southern province, according to a press release.

The special initiative for south Balochistan was being taken up on the directives of Prime Minister Imran Khan who wanted urgent and tangible steps taken on priority basis to bring the underdeveloped part of Pakistan to a higher level of development, the press release added.

Headed by Prime Minister Imran Khan, the National Development Council on July 24 had tasked Asad Umar to develop the programme in consultation with all the stakeholders.

Among the committees, one will be chaired by Deputy Chairman Planning Commission Dr Jehanzeb Khan and the second committee will be co-chaired by Maritime Affairs Minister Ali Zaidi and Commerce Advisor Razak Dawood.

The committee led by Deputy Chairman Planning Commission would make a plan for the development of Baluchistan to improve service delivery in areas of water resources, roads, agriculture, tourism, energy and infrastructure.

While Minister and Advisor’s committee will work out a plan for Gwadar's development.

The Planning Minister assured the provincial government that his ministry would releases money for development projects, adding that any plan made for the betterment of Balochistan would be finalized with prior consultation of all the stakeholders of the province.

It was the vision of Prime Minister Imran Khan to provide better information technology and energy facilities to the people of Baluchistan and giving priority to the weakest segment / areas of the country, said Asad Umar.

"In this fiscal year, the federal and provincial governments will spend cumulatively Rs. 200 billion on the development of Balochistan, including Rs118 billion under the Annual Development Plan by the provincial government and Rs. 82 billion under the federal Public Sector Development Programme," he added.