Balochistan Assembly approves budget

QUETTA: The Balochistan Assembly passed the provincial budget of over Rs214 billion for the next financial year on Wednesday. Adviser to Chief Minister on Finance Mir Khalid Khan Langov presented 55 demands for grants. Leader of opposition Maulana Abdul Wasey walked out of the house after Speaker Jan Mohammad Jamali did not allow him to speak on the budget because the adviser on finance had already concluded the debate. The demands for grants, which were approved in the absence of opposition parties, included over Rs163bn of non-development and over Rs50.74bn of development expenditures. The assembly adopted a demand for Rs13.343bn for expenditures on general administration, including organs of state, fiscal administration, economics regulation, statistics, publicity and information. An amount of Rs28.937bn was approved for education and Rs14.148bn for health. Another demand of Rs538 million was passed for expenditures on head of provincial excise. A demand of Rs14m pertained to expenditures of stamps. An amount of Rs10bn was sanctioned for pension of retired employees. Another demand of Rs1.341bn was approved for expenditures of administration of justice. A sum of Rs178m was allocated for the prosecution department. An amount of Rs9.265bn was approved for police, Rs2.932bn for Balochistan Constabulary, Rs5.053bn for Levies Force and Rs670m for prisons. A sum of Rs7.917bn was approved for construction, including administrative expenditures, Rs2.680bn for public health services, Rs852m for manpower and labour administration, Rs652m for Works Urban-QWASA, Rs69m for Civil Defence and Rs27m for archaeology and heritages, Rs27.1m for social welfare and Rs23m for administration of sports and entertainment facilities. Published in Dawn, June 26th, 2014