QUETTA: Balochistan Assembly has passed Rs. 19.93 billion supplementary Budget for the year 2018-19 on Saturday evening in the absence of opposition parties who walked out over not allowing debate by chair before moving cut motion on demands for grants.

Deputy Speaker, Sardar Babar Khan Musakhail, who was presiding over the budget session in the absence of Speaker Mir Abdul Qudoos Bizenjo, asked the Finance Minister Mir Zahoor Ahmed Buledi to present demands for grants on Supplementary Budget 2018-19.

The opposition members tabled 22 cut motions and demanded that according to assembly procedure first debate should be initiated on the supplementary budget.
However, Deputy Speaker asked them to move their cut motions one by one on the demand for grant. However, opposition leader Malik Sikander Khan Advocate, Sanaullah Baloch, Nasarullah Zerey and other members protested over the decision of the Chair. Sardar Abdul Rehman Khetiran while taking the floor of the house said that it was purgative of the leader of the House to convene assembly session for the approval of demands for grants. He said that opposition was wasting the assembly time.
Deputy Speaker on the occasion adjourned the session for 10 minutes for holding a meeting of opposition and treasury benches members to settle the issue. However, after meeting when session again started, the opposition leader Sikander Khan Advocate walked out with other members of the opposition parties with saying single word about the meeting.
The Provincial Finance Minister, Mir Zahoor Ahmed Buledi after the walkout of the opposition moved 23 demands for grants one by one in the house, which the house approved without any difficulty as no cut motion could be moved against the demands for grants due to walkout
out of the opposition.
Twenty-three demands for grants of the supplementary budget of Balochistan of over Rs. 19.93 billion for the year 2018-19 include highest amount of Rs. 9.75 billion for the expenditures of pension while another amount of Rs. 4. 18 billion was approved for the expenditures of health sector. Another demand for grant of Rs. 2.50 million was passed by the house to bear expenditure of Public Health Engineering (PHE) till June 30th 2019.
Another demand for grant of over Rs. 1.67 billion was approved for the expenditure for Subsides.
After approval of the supplementary Budget for the year 2018-19, the opposition members retuned back to the house and opposition leader Sikander Khan Advocate started genera debate on the Balochistan annual budget 2019-20. Which present in the assembly by Finance Minister on Jun 19. Malik Sikandar Khan alleged that government committed discrimination in allocation of development funds for the PSDP and said that the constituencies of opposition parties were ignored in the budget. He said that justice could not succeed to prevail “Opposition
constituencies were completely neglected. Only treasury benches were given importance and allocated huge funds in PSDP”.
He added that drinking water, education, health and other basic necessities of life are equally vital and requirement of common men in opposition area. “Out of Nine constituencies of provincial capital Quetta representatives of five were elected by the people of Quetta”
said Malik Sikandar. He demanded that special development package for this constituency should be announced for resolving basic.
Malik Naseer Ahmed Shahwani of BNP-Mengal while speaking on the budget said that the government has not allocated funds for the education, health and other sectors for the over one million population of Sariab area. He said that only two colleges including one girl’s college was not enough for the male and female students of the area. He said that girls’ schools in his constituency were facing lack of basic facilities. “ “Government allocated developments on the bases of likes and dislikes,” Malik Naseer said and added that four union councils of Sariab areas were included in the Quetta Metropolitan Corporation but the situation of cleanness is worst in the area.
Zabit Reki of JUI-F on his turn presented the PSDP book to the Chief Minister and said that government should just show him which development scheme include in it from his constituency. Maulana Noorullah of JUI-F also criticized the budget allocation and said that huge funds were allocated just for the constituency of Chief Minister and Minister for Local Government while other areas were ignored.