Staff Report
ISLAMABAD: To bring development in Balochistan at par with rest of the country, the federal cabinet on Tuesday approved several bills related to healthcare, technology, education and animal husbandry.
The bills include Balochistan Vaccination Ordinance 1958, Balochistan Smart Cities Authority Bill 2020, Balochistan Digital Policy 2020, Balochistan Education Council Bill 2020, and Balochistan Livestock Breeding, Contagious Disease and Poultry Production Bill 2020.
In conformation to the prevision decisions of the Cabinet, the Balochistan Health Department worked on the bills on war footing basis, and also issued orders of recruitment of over 1,026 doctors.
The cabinet was informed that among these doctors, 496 medical officers, 382 lady medical officers and 148 dental surgeons had been recruited.Eight District Headquarters (DHQs) have been declared as teaching and Post Graduate Medical Institutes (PGMI).
Over 250 FCPS/MCPS qualified Doctors have also been selected and will be posted in 11 Teachings Hospitals and PGMI.
The Children Hospital Quetta has been made fully functional recently by placing well-qualified Processors and Consultants, which will address the shortage of doctors in the province and strengthen the healthcare delivery system. Besides uplifting several hospitals, the government of Balochistan has initiated process to fill hundreds of vacant posts of doctors and healthcare staff, in a move described by Chief Minister Jam Kamal Khan as “revolutionary steps” to improve healthcare in the province. The government has allocated Rs50 million each for these hospitals. The amount would be used to uplift the infrastructure and equip them with modern facilities.
The procurement committees have already been formed to accomplish the process. The new teaching hospitals are located at Loralai, Kech, Khuzdar, Zhob, Qilla Abdullah, Sibbi, Naseerabad, Kalat, Jam Ghulam Qadir Hospital Hub, Noshki and Panjgur. Also, considering the crucial need to enhance testing capacity for COVID-19, the provincial government has decided to establish nine Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) laboratories in Balochsitan.
Earlier in November 2020, Minister for Planning, Development, and Special Initiatives Asad Umnar announced that the government will spend Rs 600 billion on development projects of nine districts of southern Balochistan during next three years to improve living standard of the local people. Out of the total, the federal government will provide Rs 540 billion, while the rest would be spent by the Balochistan government.
Addressing a press briefing along with Minister for Information and Broadcasting Shibli Faraz, Minister for Defense Production Zubaida Jalal and Minister for Communication Murad Saeed, he said the government would also engage the private sector in some development projects in the area. He said this package was prepared under special direction of Prime Minister Imran Khan who had firm belief on raising the weak segment of society. “The country’s historic package has been prepared with an integrated strategy to ensure that people belonging to all segment of society should get benefit from this package,” he added.
The minister hoped that after completion of this programme, the most impoverished area of the country would see prosperity and it would become practical example of PM Imran Khan’s vision of Naya Pakistan. In the past, he said the approach of allocating money for development projects was different and that was not integrated, however now “we have embarked upon a new system under which all the sectors and ministries will be engaged collectively.”
For instance, he said in southern Balochistan, agriculture was the most important source of income for locals for which, the people need water, for which dams would have to be built.
“Once the water is also available and people start producing grains, fruits and other products, but they did not have resources to sell them in big cities. So the government would establish industries in those areas to make them able to preserve and add value to their products,” he said.
