PM vows to uplift Southern Balochistan with Rs.600bn Development Package

Prime Minister Imran Khan announces a Naya Pakistan Development Package of Rs. 600 billion for Southern Balochistan. This initiative will be specifically targeted at the 3.6 million people of the districts of Awaran, Chaghi, Lasbela, Panjgur, Washuk, Kech /Turbat, Kharan, Khuzdar and Gwadar.

This development package includes various infrastructural developments including the construction of 1,100 km of roads to improve mobility and access to markets, provision of electricity to more than 300,000 households and gas to all households, and construction of 16 new dams to convert 150,000 square acres of barren area into cultivable land. This development package hopes to offer employment to more than 100,000 individuals.

The Prime Minister also hopes to increase school enrollment for more than 80,000 children through the Wasila-e-Taleem program. Internet-based education facilities will be offered to more than 600,000 children as part of this package.

In addition to this, plans for Naya Pakistan Southern Balochistan also include increasing access to internet for 500,000 users and improving youth employment prospects through digital skills training for 35,000 young individuals.

This development package also aims to improve the health standards in the aforementioned Southern Balochistan districts by ensuring that 150 local nursing staff is recruited every year in the community and health care system in this area.

Moreover, the Prime Minister plans on offering unconditional cash transfers to an additional 25,000 households in Southern Balochistan.

Other plans also include training, financing and offering technical support to those working in the key sectors in the area, such as fishing, mining and date processing. Moreover, this package hopes to create 6 border markets to facilitate cross border trade for Southern Balochistan.

The Prime Minister's Naya Pakistan initiative hopes to bring Southern Balochistan at par with other areas of the country through this new development package.