Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif on Friday said that the Balochistan issue was very important for the entire country and a policy should be evolved with national consensus to end deprivations of the province. Talking to lawmakers from Balochistan, politicians, religious leaders and journalists, Shahbaz said that the resolution of the Balochistan issue could be achieved through democracy. He further said that Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) President Nawaz Sharif had adopted a clear stance to address the Balochistan issue. He said that there was a need for collective thinking and commitment to find a solution to the problems of Balochistan.
Furthermore, the chief minister said that PML-N was a national party and had its roots all provinces. He stressed that in order to promote inter-provincial harmony, male and female students of Balochistan, as well as other provinces had also been included in the educational programmes of Punjab, whereas scholarships were also being given from the endowment fund to Baloch students to enable them to continue their studies.
He added that a special quota had been reserved for the students of Balochistan in the universities and colleges of Punjab. Moreover, Shahbaz said that the quota for Baloch students in the education institutions of Punjab would be increased. He said that an institute of cardiology was being set up with a sum of Rs 2 billion in Quetta with the cooperation of Punjab government as a result of which treatment facilities to the cardiac patients would be available to the people at their doorstep.
He said that PML-N was the only political party which had not only identified the burning issue of Balochistan but also expressed solidarity with the Balochi people.
