ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani has directed the Balochistan Government to accelerate work on the Aghaz-e-Huqooq-e-Balochistan besides timely completion of development schemes approved under the Prime Minister’s Special Initiative so that its benefits should start reaching  people of Balochistan.

The Prime Minister gave these directions while chairing a high level meeting here at the PM House on Wednesday to review progress on Aghaz-e-Huqooq-e-Balochistan.
 

The meeting which was attended by Chief Minister Balochistan Nawab Aslam Raeesani and other members of the Balochistan Cabinet discussed at length various aspects of Aghaz-e-Huqooq-e-Balochistan and its positive impact on the Balochistan’s economy.
 

The Prime Minister asked the Balochistan Government for early completion of verification/selection process for employment of 10,000 candidates to enhance their share both in the provincial and federal government services.
 

The meeting was informed that more than 6000 applications have been received for 5,000 jobs announced by the Prime Minister and necessary scrutiny process is underway to ensure transparency and merit in the selection process.
 

Nawab Aslam Raeesani, Chief Minister Balochistan while thanking the Prime Minister for his special attention towards addressing the longstanding issues of his province, said that the economic progress of his province after completion of the projects launched under the Aghaz-e-Huqooq-e-Balochistan would go a long way in addressing the sense of deprivation of the people of Balochistan.
 

The Prime Minister said that in order to avoid the over run cost of the projects, priority should be accorded to the already approved schemes and the provincial government should be more focused in its approach towards constructing water reservoirs so as to bring more land under cultivation in the province.
 

Enhancement of provincial police salaries was also discussed and the meeting was informed that additional funds are required to bring the salaries of provincial police at par with other provinces.
 

The Prime Minister directed the provincial government to liaise with the Finance Ministry in this regard.
 

The Prime Minister said that the Federal Government is making concerted efforts to enhance financial capacity of Balochistan through a number of schemes.
 

He said that out of 50% share of the Federal Government, 30% share has been handed over to the provincial government with the sole objective of financial empowerment of the province.
 

Increase of Balochistan share in the gas companies was also discussed in the meeting.
 

The meeting was briefed that out of a list of 998 missing persons which was published in the media, only 62 families have so far confirmed missing of their family members and accordingly the provincial government is trying to locate these people through the Ministry of Interior and other security agencies.
 

Progress of special schemes approved by the Prime Minister under “Peoples Works Programme” was also reviewed in the meeting.  It was stated that Rs. 1.5 billion have already been disbursed to the province for schemes under  “Peoples Works Programme” while orders for release of the remaining amount of Rs. 1.5 billion have been issued.
 

Public Sector Development Programme was also discussed in the meeting. The provincial government requested the Prime Minister that the cut proposed for PSDP Schemes on account of enhanced allocations to the provinces under the new NFC award should not be applied on projects announced for Balochistan.
 

The Prime Minister inquired about the progress of his special “Quetta Package” amounting to Rs. 3 billion. He said that he intends to visit Quetta in near future to inaugurate the projects.
 

The provincial government also thanked the Prime Minister for his special attention to harness the full economic potential of Gwadar port. It was stated in the meeting that 81 ships had berthed at the port so far and 81000 trucks transported the cargo upcountry without any incident.
 

The Prime Minister stressed the need to complete construction work on the remaining portion of the road connecting the port to all parts of the country.
 

He also inquired about the feasibilities of providing drinking water schemes to the port city. Three projects; Shadikor Scheme, Sunsar Scheme and Swarzai scheme for provision of water to Gwadar were discussed in the meeting.
 

The meeting was attended by Senior Provincial Minister for Planning and Development Maulana Abdul Wasey, Provincial Ministers for Finance, Mir Muhammad Asim Kurd, Communication and Works, Mir Sadiq Umrani, Irrigation and Power, Sardar Aslam Bizenjo, Youth Affairs Capt. (Rtd), Abdul Khaliq Achackzai, Population, Haji Toor Utman Khail, Industries, Syed Ehsan Shaha, Revenue Board, Eng.  Zamurk Khan, Home, Mir Zafar Zehri, Begum Parveen Magsi, Minister for Law and Parliamentary Affairs and IT, Chief Secretary, Nasir Mehmood Khosa and senior officials of the province.