'Innovative approach needed to provide basic services to Balochistan'

Innovative approach is need of the hour for providing basic services to underdeveloped province of Balochistan, which needs effective planning for making administrative machinery to deliver with state-of-the-art financial management by increasing revenue and curtailing unnecessary expenditure.
This was the crux of the matter given in World Bank compendium, entitled Balochistan Economic Report - From Periphery to Core, released here on Monday. Balochistan was lagging behind in development of infrastructure and provision of basic services, which created sense of deprivation among the people of the province. This is high time, the report added, the province draws on its natural resources and strategic location to promote inclusive economic development.
The study draws lessons from Balochistan's development record and presents a roadmap for future economic development. The report was jointly released by the government of Balochistan, World Bank, and Asian Development Bank. The report laid emphasis on improving public administration, making devolution more effective and scaling-up of basic services with innovative approaches involving the private sector and communities to bring the province at par with rest of the country.
The economic development of the province, it added, has been relatively slower than in other provinces, but the government has realised the people's backwardness and both federal and provincial governments have launched major uplift initiatives in economic and social sectors and are investing in infrastructure to improve the connectivity of the scattered population.
As Sui gas fuelled Pakistan's industrialisation in the second half of the 20th century, Balochistan's trade and energy relations with Iran, Middle East and rest of the world would further help in economic expansion of the country. Boosting energy supply depends to a large degree on pipelines and transmission lines from Iran, Middle East, and Central Asia that pass through Balochistan and scaling up national trade hinges largely on turning Gwadar into a viable, well connected port, as well as transforming Balochistan's natural riches in mining, fisheries, and agro-products into profitable exports.
The report argues that pursuing a development agenda around generating growth, delivering services, and financing development can fully ensure that Balochistan's development path encompasses all segments of society where gains are shared among all the population groups. Generating growth requires leveraging resource and strategic advantages, deepening its capacity for value-addition and strengthening the foundations for business activity, it concluded.