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Govt may include 200 bulldozers in Balochistan package

By Ijaz Kakakhel

ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Food and Agriculture Nazar Mohammad Gondal on Saturday said the government was considering including the provision of 200 bulldozers in Balochistan Development Package, which will be announced shortly.

This demand was made today in a meeting between delegation of Balochistan including provincial agriculture minister, Asad Khan Baloch, MNA Changaize Khan along with federal agriculture minister and high officials of the ministry.

After the meeting, the minister told journalists that Balochistan was a big province area wise and the federal government would try its level best to facilitate agriculture in the province. Cotton, being a cash crop of the country, was successfully launched in Balochistan and its sowing areas would be extended to 50,000 acres of area in 19 districts. New varieties of cotton were also supplied in Balochistan and the minister claimed that all such experiments are yielding positive result.

A senior official of the ministry of food and agriculture told Daily Times that the ministry of finance has still not provided Rs 2 billion for the purchase of 300 bulldozers, 200 for Balochistan and 100 for NWFP due to financial constraints. However, he expressed the hope that it would be released soon.

Balochistan Agriculture Minister, Asad Khan Baloch speaking on the occasion said the province badly needed the 200 promised bulldozers for leveling and other purposes. He requested the government to provide the bulldozers on priority bases so that the province would be able to increase agriculture production.

The minister also said agriculture developmental projects and releases of funds were the focal point of the meeting. At present, the minister said there were six big projects in the pipeline for Balochistan. These projects are: establishment of Agriculture Research Institute in Dera Al-ayar just like Pakistan Agriculture Research Council (PARC), high efficiency project, chaghi project and Restructuring of Cotton Institute.

Although establishment of Gward Port was the scheme of the previous government but the present democratic government has made it functional. The government has allowed import of fertilizer/wheat through Gwadar Port. About 25,000 to 50,000 people were busy in Gwadar Port during off-loading import of fertilizer/wheat. Despite severe financial constraints last year, the minister said the federal government is trying its level best to facilitate Balochistan in provision of developmental budget.

During the current year, the minister said the government is trying its utmost to provide maximum funds in the developmental budget to remove deprivations from Balochistan.

Another Balochistan legislative said that people of the province should be given their due rights on their own resources. Provincial autonomy was a demand of all provinces, and claimed that it would put country on the path of development. He said NWFP demanded its share on net hydel profit, Balochistan on gas royalty and same was the case with Sindh province.

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