Job opportunities in Balochistan
Job opportunities in Balochistan
Editorial
Editorial

Balochistan is a completely ignored province of Pakistan and the Government, both at the Central and Provincial level, had failed to generate enough employment opportunities to provide jobs to more than a million youth, most of them educated and qualified.

Balochistan is a completely ignored province of Pakistan and the Government, both at the Central and Provincial level, had failed to generate enough employment opportunities to provide jobs to more than a million youth, most of them educated and qualified.

The population of the province had crossed the 10 million mark without a single Government project to provide jobs to millions of jobless. The announcement more than a year ago that the Government would provide 35,000 jobs proved to be a hoax and a propaganda ploy to hoodwink the public opinion.

It is pity that the Provincial Government is spending more than 80 per cent of development funds on insignificant and junk schemes or for the sole benefit of the MPAs and the concerned public functionaries. Balochistan has a development budget of more than Rs 74 billion which is going waste.

If the entire fund is diverted to mega economic and industrial project, Balochistan can solve the menace of unemployment in less than 10 years. But the development funds are being wasted since 1985 when General Ziaul Haq made politics as a business venture. Spend or “invest” a couple of million on elections buying votes or purchasing the loyalties of elders of the area and earn billions in return with complete impunity.

There will be no case of corruption from the NAB or other agencies. In case of defiance of real rulers, only in that case they will face the threat of arrest and prosecution.

In recent years, convicted Ministers were released from jail using political pressure and others were unprecedented facilities and comforts despite facing terrorism charge and taking them out of jail and confined to their residence and no court took suo Motto notice to violation of laws of judicial lock-up.

From day one, the Balochistan Government had not been interested in long term planning to implement mega project leaving an impact on the provincial economy creating jobs and generating revenue for the public exchequer.

Some honest people in politics and bureaucracy made efforts to introduce long term planning for development. They all received shut up calls from the rulers discontinuing the long term development plans for Balochistan.

There is a serious allegation that the State and its institutions are patronizing corruption in Balochistan in a planned manner to discourage economic development, create jobs for an army of jobless and generating revenue for the public exchequer.

It is an undeniable fact that the MPA schemes are waste and junk and why they are not being closed down on permanent basis? This is a big question for the Pakistani establishment ruling the country.

Why Balochistan is being given special treatment on the economic front. The Industrial zone is confined to Hub Township which is an extension of Karachi. The Sindh Industrial Estate is located 50 miles from I.I. Chundrigar Road or the Central Post Office while Hub is located at 12 miles from Centre of Karachi.

The industrial expansion to other remote areas of Jhalawan, Mekran, Kharan and Naseerabad had been stopped deliberately. In order to disrupt the pace of industrial development even in Hub and its surrounding townships of Vindar and Uthal, the Central Government had abruptly withdrawn all the incentives, tax holidays for Balochistan.

As a result, more than 400 industrial units were shifted from Hub, Vindar and Uthal to the Punjab where the industrial got an additional incentive to steal power and gas and with no labour trouble. Backward, poor and undeveloped Balochistan is not in the interest Pakistan, its security and unity.

This realization had come only after wasting seven long decades. Let us hope that the rulers will be able to resolve this issue before any disaster on the political front.