ISLAMABAD – The Standing Committee of National Assembly on Inter-Provincial Coordination was told Wednesday that around 70 percent children drop out after primary education in Balochistan owing to unavailability of transport facility and 600 scholarships meant exclusively for the Baloch students have not been given by the government so far.
“Middle or high schools are located at a distance that cannot be accessed without transport facilities, which results in drops-out,” Chief Secretary of Balochistan Ahmad Bakhsh Lehri told while briefing the Standing Committee of the National Assembly on Inter-Provincial Coordination about Aghaz-e-Haqood Balochistan package.
He said that 600 scholarships, to be given to the students from Balochistan by the Higher Education Commission (HEC) per the announcement of Aghaz-Haqooq-Balochistan, have not been provided so far.
He said that there were 1100 primary schools, 550 middle schools, 400 high schools and 75 colleges in the province. He also said that 40 percent of them are meant for females and 60 percent are for males.
He also said that 250 people from the settlers’ community had either left the provincial jobs or had gone to different federal government departments on deputation because of the deteriorating law and order situation in the province.
On the issue Gwadar Port, the chief secretary said that 576 acres of land at the port area was under the control Pakistan Navy. The Balochistan government had not yet acquired the land, which was to be given to the Pakistan Navy in lieu of those 576 acres, because of litigation.
He said that Port of Singapore Authority needed 25000 acres of land for dumping purposes and if that land is not given, it will destroy the whole project. Lehri also told that the project of dams’ construction in the province will help irrigate 3 million hectares of land, adding that Merani and Subz Zai dams were significant in this regard as both will irrigate around 45000 acres of land. According to the chief secretary, 200 delayed-action dams and 13 small dams were part of the project and some of them were being constructed.
Lehri also said that treating police and levies as one regular law enforcement agency had increased the expenses of the provincial government and now both had been divided again and 96 percent of the area was being controlled by the Levies and 4 percent by the police.
Lehri said that as per agreement, the 10 percent of the profit of the oil and gas companies was meant for the area from where the two natural resources were obtained. He added that 17 percent of gas was obtained from Balochistan and 17 percent of the revenue was also given to the province.
He also informed that that federal government had said that Balochistan’s revenue share was around Rs 120 billion whereas the province had contested the said figures.
Briefing the committee about Reko Dig issue, Secretary Inter-Provincial Coordination Mehmood Ahmad Zahid, said that mineral resources was a provincial subject and the federal government had nothing to do with it.
