QUETTA: Balochistan lawmakers have expressed reservations over the government’s failure to consult them on the creation of new divisions and districts, and called for a uniform formula based on population and area for setting them up.
Opposition members raised the issue during the Balochistan Assembly session on Tuesday, saying a consistent criterion based on population and area should be adopted for the creation of new districts.
Speaker Abdul Khaliq Achakzai, who was presiding over the session, summoned the senior member of the Board of Revenue for next week to explain the shifting of Pishin division’s headquarters from Suranan.
Awami National Party parliamentary leader Engineer Zamarak Khan Achakzai, speaking on a point of order, said new divisions and districts had been created in the province, for which he thanked the chief minister.
Pishin controversy He said the five provincial assembly members from Pishin division had not been taken into conndence over the change in the divisional headquarters. He added that the government hadinitially announced Suranan as the headquarters, a decision thathadbeen agreedupon,but had now shifted it to Pishin town without consulting the elected representatives.
The divisional headquarters should be located in an area easily accessible to the people, he said, adding that divisions and districts should be created on an equitable basis. He asked the speaker to summon the authorities and seek an explanation for the change.
The JUI-F’s Asghar Tareen said elected members should be consulted on the creation of divisions and districts. He noted that those raising the issue had also been ministers in the previous government, but had not worked towards creating new districts during their tenure. He called for a uniform formula based on population and area.
National Party President Dr Abdul Malik Baloch said the number of districts could be doubled if the government wished, but it should explain where the funds would come from. ‘Billions of rupees are spent annually on each district,’ he added.
Mir Zabid Ali Reki, a JUI-F MPA, said Washuk was made a district in 2004 and was now being divided into two. He stressed that elected representatives should be consulted before new districts were created.
Several other members also spoke on the issue and called for the senior member of the Board of Revenue to be summoned to explain the decision to shift Pishin division’s headquarters from Suranan.