QUETTA: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Monday said that under an agreement reached between the federal and Balochistan government, a total of 28,000 agricultural tube wells in the province would be shifted to solar system within three months.
Talking to media after the agreement signing ceremony, the prime minister said the federal government would provide 70 percent funds while 30 percent would be contributed by the provincial government for Rs 55 billion solarization project.
The prime minister met the provincial cabinet in which the federal ministers and Governor Balochistan Jafar Khan Mandokhel and Chief Minister Sarfraz Ahmed Bugti were present, PM Office Media Wing said in a press release.
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Earlier, the prime minister witnessed an agreement signing ceremony between the federal and the provincial governments for shifting of electricity run tube wells to solar powered mechanism.
The prime minister tasked the chief minister to complete the solarization project within three months.
He opined that the completion of project would ensure prosperity of the farmers and bring a large area of cultivable land under farming, adding that with functioning of the solar powered tube wells, the farmers would get uninterrupted power supply throughout the day.
During his address to the provincial cabinet, he termed the agreement as “a deep structured change” firmly rooted in the government’s conceived reforms agenda, he said that a huge sum of Rs500 billion would be saved from going down the drain.
The prime minister said that the federal government would be absolve of paying Rs 80-90 billion burden which was provided as subsidy to the province due to non-payment of bills and still the farmers community was getting 2 to 6 hours power supply.
With the solarization process, the issue would be resolved forever, he expressed the hope.
The prime mister said that throughout the world, the utilization of solar capacity was tapped for generation of environment friendly power which was considered as the inexpensive source of power.
He said that the government was taking steps on priority basis for the provision of solar power and assured that the federal government would work closely with the provincial government for the uplift of the province.
The prime minister said that they had reserved 10 percent of additional quota for the students of province in a batch of 1,000 graduate students being sent to China on government scholarships to seek the latest training in the agriculture sector.
While 10 percent additional quota for the students of Balochistan was also allocated in the training programme to be imparted by Huawei to 300,000 students in IT sector, he added.
He further informed that the federal government had already set aside funds in the fiscal budget for Danish schools in the province, adding that they were keen to broaden Danish schools to the divisional level so that students in the entire province could be benefitted from the education facility.
The prime minister said that when the young people of Balochistan were equipped with the latest education, the country and province would move on path of progress.
The prime minister also appreciated ideas and efforts of the chief minister and said the today’s signing of agreement was part of the reforms agenda and collective efforts made by the federal and provincial governments for the progress and prosperity of the country.
The prime minister also apprised that a total of 1 million agricultural tube wells throughout the country would also be converted on solar power and would save a sum of $3.5 billion on import bills of fuel, thus saving precious and limited resources of the country.
The model for the upcoming project would be introduced soon which would be “a quantum jump,” he added.
He regretted that the injustices were done with the debt ridden country in the last many decades and if they had not taken drastic steps for the economic turnaround, the coming generations would not forgive them. The prime minister said that it was his first visit to the province after the formation of new government.
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