QUETTA: Pakistan’s Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar on Tuesday said that the government had taken multiple steps to bring about reforms in bureaucracy in order to improve the overall governance structure in Baluchistan.
Addressing a press conference, he said Baluchistan had some complex and chronic issues that ought to be resolved by deputing a blend of hard-working and upright bureaucrats from civil service as well as from the provincial structure.
The prime minister said that Pakistan’s issues are linked to poor governance, which had been badly affecting the performance of the province for the last few decades.
At the request of the Baluchistan government, PM Kakar deputed a bureaucrat, Shakeel Qadir Khan, along with a team, to ensure meritocracy and streamline the overall structure of the bureaucracy.
The prime minister said that he specifically instructed the team to fully support the Chief Minister and the provincial government in this regard.
He said there was an axis of some corrupt bureaucrats and other stakeholders who had crumpled the whole province, thus adversely affecting Pakistan’s economy.
The prime minister hoped that the incoming elected government would also remain vigilant in this regard and would continue the process of reforms in the future.
Election Concerns in Baluchistan
To a query regarding reservations of the nationalist parties to hold free and fair polls in the province, the prime minister said it was just a routine matter as these parties had something to say to their voters.
Reiterating the government’s resolve to hold free and fair polls across the country, he said the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) would perform its duty to conduct the polls in an appropriate way.
Responding to a query about the projects under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), the premier said the caretaker administration did not have the mandate to launch new projects. However, he was trying his best to allocate funds for the Quetta-Khuzdar dual carriageway section. He hoped to get the finances for the project by January.
