The Balochistan budget

Presenting the Balochistan budget for 2005-06, with an outlay of Rs 46.378 billion and showing a deficit of Rs 5.245 billion, in the Provincial Assembly on June 22, Finance Minister Ehsan Shah, announced the government's historic decision to provide free education up to intermediate level. Referring to the deficit, he said that it would be largely met from generation of income from local resources, adoption of austerity measures to curtail expenditures, and assistance from the federal government.
While the Finance Minister described the budget as tax-free, the opposition members dubbed it a hollow document, with no word about raising additional resources, which they said should have come from the eagerly awaited NFC Award. Notably, however, unlike the Finance Ministers of Sindh and NWFP, who had dwelt at length on the impact of the delay in NFC Award, Ehsan Shah refrained from touching upon the issue. Seemingly, irked by this, an opposition member is reported to have demanded appointment of a panel of Supreme Court judges to investigate federal government's alleged appropriation of natural resources of Balochistan.
It will be noted that although the hallmark of the budget is free education up to intermediate, the Minister made no mention of the budgetary impact of this otherwise populist decision.
According to Ehsan Shah's announcement, with the exception of admission of admission fee, recovery of all charges and fees in the government owned educational institutions would come to an end. It has also been decided to provide Rs 10 million for Balochistan Education Foundation for assisting the private sector in education.
As for the Rs 11.766 billion earmarked for the development budget, which includes Rs 2.766 billion as foreign assistance component, and Rs 34.611 billion allocation for non-development expenditure, it lacks details about sectoral allocations.
Income from provincial resources has been estimated at Rs 29.171 billion, while receipts from the federal government have been estimated at Rs 27.559 billion. Referring to facilities and incentives for government employees, the minister said that, keeping pace with the federal government's announcement of pay and pension package for government employees, the Balochistan government has decided to implement it with 15 percent raise in pay scales, house rent allowance, in accordance with revised pay scales, and 10 percent increase in pensions.
All these facilities would be admissible from July 1, 2005. However, he pointed out, additional allowances and incentives for government employees, particularly low-grade employees, are under consideration of the provincial government and a notification would soon be issued.
He said the rate of subsistence allowance for employees dying or becoming disabled in service was being raised three-fold. At the same time, he revealed that the rate of Group Insurance has already been increased. The raise in pay and pension scales and other monetary incentives would cost Rs 3.5 billion.
All in all, the Balochistan budget, with its marked thrust on alleviation of the plight of the poor, carries with it a promise to give proprietary rights to the dwellers of kutchi abadis at suitable rates. Reference, in this regard, may also be made to the urge for streamlining the agriculture sector from various approaches.
These includes the decision to give corporate farming status to Agriculture Department's farms, encouraging private sector to run Pasni Fish Harbour, and construction of small jetties at Ormara, Jewani, Gans and Dam for the fishermen. Livestock farming is also to be promoted by providing high breed animals to breeders with foreign assistance, with a view to opening new avenues of employment and income generation.