The Government of Balochistan presented its second budget with an amount of 87 billion deficit. The total consolidated budget outlay was Rs. 465.5 billion for the next financial year. The amount earmarked for the Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP) is Rs. 118.2 billion rupees while the amount for the non-development sector is Rs. 309 billion rupees. The government of Balochistan has announced to create as many as 6840 new jobs during the next fiscal year. The special focus of the budget was on health and dealing with the corona and its impacts. Therefore, concessions were given to the business community and allocations were made to deal with the corona and locust which has given really tough time to the growers and the agriculture sector.

The budget is an expectation and a game of numbers but the real impact of budget can be seen in the execution and its long-term impact on the standard of lives of the people. The jobs announced in the public sector do not meet the requirement of jobs needed in the province for meeting the expectations of youth in Balochistan. The Government of Balochistan needs to look for alternate resources of job creation so that the youth can find better ways of prosperity and increasing their per capita income. The inter-generational poverty in Balochistan, many research papers say, is persistent and is even increasing with every coming day. The corona crisis has further increaseddifficulties for the masses. Majority of the populations in the province have subsistence economy. Any mishap or loss in the business can swing them back into the net of vicious poverty. Therefore, the sectors which can generate jobs should be real focus of the government through long-term planning as Annual Development Programmes do not meet the purpose. Five year planning in various sectors can give good and recordable results. Therefore, sectors such as fisheries, agriculture, live-stock and minerals, which happen to be the pillars of Balochistan’s economy should be focused through some long-term planning and experts should be involved so that jobs could be created in these sectors.

The creation of jobs in the public sector is nothing but a burden on the public ex-chequer as these jobs are only given preference by the government in the absence of a dynamic private sector. The only answer to the vows of Balochistan youth and their expectations is to create for them job opportunities in the sectors where they could not only become job finders but also job creator. Moreover, the government has also allocated a huge chunk for the security in the province which also includes capacity building of Levies and Police. The Rs. 44 billion is an huge amount which could otherwise be diverted to areas to develop the province. The government should also look for alternate sources to make this province a peaceful abode for the people by promoting inter-faith harmony, countering hate speeches and investing more and more in education. Mere creation of check-posts would not serve the purpose and the budget for law and order would increase every year that way. Government needs to look for out-of-box solutions for treatingthe ills that infest this province.