ISLAMABAD, Dec 20: President Asif Ali Zardari advised Baloch leaders on Saturday to move resolutions in the provincial assembly to address various provincial issues, which would then be taken up by parliament.

The president said this would help institutionalise decision-making process and bring on board all stake-holders rather than individuals taking important decisions. He was talking to a delegation of Baloch leaders, led by Nawab Talal Akbar Bugti, which called on him at the presidency on Saturday.

Mian Raza Rabbani, minister for the inter-provincial coordination, and Rehman Malik, adviser to the prime minister on interior, were also present.

President Zardari said that decisions taken on the basis of consensus and with the involvement of democratic institutions were not only durable but also long lasting.

He further said that it was a measure of the commitment of the present government to solve the Balochistan problem in right earnest that Ms Bhutto visited the province on Dec 15 last year, two weeks before her assassination, and made far-reaching announcements about reconciliation with the people of Balochistan.

After that, he said, the PPP also formally apologised to the people of Balochistan over the excesses committed against them in the past. The prime minister had also accorded priority to Balochistan issues in his address to parliament, he said.

Mr Zardari said he was conscious of the acute sense of deprivation among the people of Balochistan and that was why he had set up a special committee on Balochistan and decided to meet representatives of the province to enable them to vent their grievances and offer doable suggestions. President Asif Ali Zardari said he would continue to have such consultative dialogue with more and more representative from the province.

Baloch leader Nawabzada Talal Akbar Bugti and his delegation also offered fateha for Ms Bhutto and for all of martyrs of democracy.

POVERTY REDUCTION: President Zardari has said that concrete steps should be taken for poverty reduction through private-public partnership and NGOs at union council level and all recommendations of the committees concerned in this regard would be forwarded to the government for implementation, adds APP.

The president welcomed participants of the meeting and said this was the first interactive meeting in the presidency which had been attended both by civil society organisations the government departments.

He made the remarks during at a presentation at the Aiwan-i-Sadr.The meeting was informed that an emergency relief camp for Fata’s displaced families had been set up. It was also informed that some camps would be set up in Balochistan for the earthquake-hit victims in January.

The meeting was attended by Ms Sherry Rehman, Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting, Mr Shaukat Tarin, Adviser to Prime Minister for Finance, Ms Farzana Raja, Chairperson of Benazir Income Support Programme and other officials concerned.

Representatives of a dozen civil society organisations concerning poverty alleviation also attended the meeting. They included Shoaib Sultan, Chairman of RSPN, Ms Noorul Ain, Education Adviser, Dr Rashid Bajwa, CEO NRSP, Ms Kishwar Naheed and others.