QUETTA, Dec 7: President General Pervez Musharraf has said that he wants to bring progress and development to Balochistan and asked the people of the province, particularly youths, to support his efforts for a prosperous future.

“Leave those talking of Lashkar-i-Balochistan and long march, and get back” to support government’s efforts for progress, said General Musharraf while speaking at a big public meeting at the Railways Hockey Ground here on Thursday.“I want to bring a new era of development and prosperity to Balochistan which remained neglected for over 50 years,” he said at the meeting also attended by a large number of women.

Governor Balochistan Owais Ahmed Ghani, Chief Minister Jam Mir Mohammed Yousuf, Deputy Chairman Senate Mir Jan Mohammed Jamali, federal ministers Zubaida Jalal, Sardar Yar Mohammad Rind, Sumira Malik and Malik Ghulam Sarwar Khan and Chief Secretary KB Rind were also present at the public meeting.

Pakistan and Balochistan are for each other, he said and urged the Baloch youth to leave those who were against the development and progress of this province.

“There is no lashkar but only one, and that is Pakistan Army,” he said, adding that they should stop talking about the lashkar made by a few local sardars.

“Though I am not a Baloch or a Pashtoon, my heart beats with my Baloch and Pashtoon brethren. You are source of my strength,” he said.

President Musharraf announced Rs1 billion for development of Quetta and Rs100 million for each of the 28 districts of Balochistan. He also announced Rs2.5 billion for the parliamentarians to launch development schemes in their respective constituencies.

He assured more funds for the development of the province to bring it on a par with other provinces.

The president urged the students to focus on their studies, seek higher education and work for their country and the betterment of their families.

He announced the establishment of seven new cadet colleges and two more campuses of Balochistan University, in Gwadar and Turbat; six new buses for Balochistan University; and 1,000 scholarships for Baloch students, enabling them to study in the best schools and professional colleges of the country, with free boarding and lodging.

He said all those who had completed 16 years of education would get a stipend of Rs10,000 for a year from the government.

He announced a quota for Baloch students in the vocational training institutions of the country, besides special training courses for the Baloch youth at the Pakistan Ordnance Factories, Aeronautical Complex Kamr and Heavy Industries Taxila. He assured that the trained students would be absorbed on regular positions.

About the government’s village electrification plan, the president said 1,400 villages would be electrified this year, to be followed by another 2,000 next year. By the year 2009, every village in the province would be electrified, he said.

Earlier, President Musharraf inaugurated a 50-bed Kidney Centre, funded by Workers Welfare Fund.

The first-ever kidney centre in Quetta was constructed at a cost of Rs385 million over 7.5 acres of land given by the provincial government. The centre is equipped with the facilities of diagnosis, dialysis, surgery and labs.