QUETTA: The first meeting of divisional committees, which the provincial government has formed to resolve various issues, took a number of important decisions.

Presided over by Chief Minister Mir Abdul Qudoos Bizenjo, the meeting was also attended by Commander 12 Corps Lt Gen Sarfaraz Ali.

The committees were tasked with solving problems faced by people by engaging commissioners and deputy commissioners. It was decided that the committees would also look into law and order, the issue of missing persons, good governance and development projects. They would also play the role of a coordinator between different government departments. They would work for implementation on the Balochistan action programme, promotion of education, health, minerals and agriculture and make plans for increasing government’s revenues.

Adviser to the Chief Minister on Home Mir Zia Langove, the chief secretary, inspectors general of police and FC North, additional home chief secretary, finance secretary and other senior officials attended the meeting. The inspector general of FC South, some commissioners and other senior officials joined the meeting through a video link.

Law and order, missing persons’ issue, people’s problems to be looked into

Additional Home Chief Secretary Hashim Ghalzai briefed the meeting on diseases and objectives for establishing the divisional review committees. He said the purpose of forming these committees was to provide immediate relief to the people and address lack of coordination between agencies and hurdles created in the way of solving their problems.

CM Bizenjo said during the meeting that “transparency and rule of law create prosperous societies based on justice”. “Field officers should use their authority to give relief to the people so that they do not have to come to Quetta,” he added. He said formation of the divisional review committees was an important step towards resolving public issues.

People’s participation in the province’s development process and peace building would yield positive results, Lt Gen Sarfaraz Ali said.

He said the divisional review committees would have full patronage of government’s institutions. He said it would be important to hold regular meetings of the committees.

Briefing the meeting, ACS Ghalzai said that in order to improve the good governance and performance of the government in the province, review committees had been formed at the provincial, divisional and district levels under the administration of the home department.

“The initiative aims to gain the confidence of all stakeholders in the areas of education, health, economy, energy, minerals, trade and agriculture,” he said.

According to him, it will also cover the accountability of public office holders and better coordination between administration, civil society and law enforcement agencies. Good service delivery, partnership-based development initiatives and maintaining law and order in the province would be achieved through the review committees, he said.

The three-tier committees will be chaired by the chief minister at the provincial level, commissioners at the divisional level and deputy commissioners at the district level.

The ToR (terms of reference) of the committees included Balochistan Action Plan, increase in revenues, provision of better services, development of good governance, education and health sectors.

The ToR also covered investment, law and order, border management mechanisms and the issue of missing persons. Essential factors, such as checking mechanism at check-posts, employment for youth, long-term and medium-term socio-economic initiatives are also part of the ToR.

Published in Dawn, April 23rd, 2022