On Wednesday, Prime Minister Imran Khan admitted that the province of Balochistan has been neglected for decades, due to which it continues to struggle at the lower end of human development indicators in the country.

While addressing the signing ceremony for the award of contracts by the Universal Service Fund (USF) for the provision of high-speed mobile broadband data in rural Balochistan and Sindh, the Prime Minister added that his government will be taking concerted efforts to facilitate Balochistan’s march towards economic development.

According to a comprehensive report by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Balochistan ranks lowest in terms of provincial human development indicators (including healthcare, education, food security, etc.), with an HDI of 0.450 - with only FATA ranking lower with an HDI of 0.300.