Financial woes of
Balochistan and
tepid response
of Islamabad
The Chief Minister Balochistan, Mir Abdul Quddus Bizenjo is up against the federal government once again. The issue is identical, one and the same, financial problems being confronted by the province for long. This is evident from yet another policy statement issued by the Chief Minister Bizenjo referring the otherwise “lukewarm” attitude of the federal government right under the Premier-ship of Muhammad Shahbaz Sharif.
In his statement, the Chief Minister gave intense reaction towards the federal government’s approach towards lack / non-existence of of new National Finance Commission (NFC) Award.
The Chief Minister rightly pointed out that the new NFC Award is overdue for last eight years. According to him, the new NFC Award is due since 2015, but this very constitutional obligation is being violated for last eight years affecting Balochistan the most.
He said that Balochistan province is the biggest affectee of the situation than other federating units.
It’s awesome when the Chief Minister noted with concern that Balochistan has so far suffered financial loss of over Rs. 300 billion due to non-existence of new National Finance Commission (NFC) Award since 2017.
He said that the approach of federation on the NFC Award is beyond comprehensible, as it is a constitutional requirement to announce new NFC Award after every five years.
At the time when there’s talk of meeting constitutional requirements everywhere, then why the requirement of NFC Award is being overlooked? he questioned.
Mr. Bizenjo also referred to the financial issues being confronted by the province and mentioned that the matter of arrears of the province against Pakistan Petroleum Limited (PPL) is also yet to be resolved.
He said that it is an unwise act and insult of the people of Balochistan to give preference to a company (PPL) over a federating unit.
Describing the attitude of federal government with Balochistan as unjustified, the Chief Minister maintained continuous and repeated contacts has not bear any positive result yet.
He said that such attitudes cause differences and misunderstandings, which is not good for the federalism as well, he maintained.
Mir Abdul Quddus Bizenjo was of the view that we had a lot of expectations with the incumbent government and Prime Minister Muhammad Shahbaz Sharif and he had also taken our stance serious.
But it is beyond understandable that why the concerned federal government institutions are not giving due importance to the orders of Prime Minister? he questioned.
Justifying his fierce reaction to the federation’s attitude, the Chief Minister if we give our reaction to the federation, it is because that we are facing hardships, and we do it in compulsion.
Undoubtedly, it is high time for the Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif-led federal government to pay proper heed towards the critical financial situation of the province. needless to mention here is that the Bizenjo government had already made it clear that it would not be able to execute the much-needed development process in the province, rather it would harm the already ongoing process.
This is also high time for the federal government to pay heed towards the issue of lack of representation of the province in the federal government institutions and autonomous bodies.
And last but not the least, the Prime Minister should personally look into the matter and find out why his very directives are being ignored by certain federal departments?
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