Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: The Annual Planning Coordination Committee (APCC) on Friday witnessed some unpleasant scenes as Balochistan Chief Minister Sanaullah Zehri walked out in protest against non-release of development funds for his province.

Zehri and Federal Minister for Planning, Development and Reform Ahsan Iqbal also exchanged words during the meeting. The meeting, which was held at the offices of the Planning Commission on Friday with Iqbal in the chair, exposed serious differences between the federation and the provinces. The situation became tense when the Balochistan chief minister lodged a protest against what he said federal government’s neglect of his province. “My province is being completely ignored… The centre has ignored Balochistan in terms of development funds,” Zehri said and walked out of the meeting. Before Zehri walked out, Iqbal criticised him strongly, saying that the provincial government did not submit complete PC-1 of even a single project. He said the government could not release development funds for “ill-planned projects”. Iqbal’s remarks irritated the Balochistan chief minister who simply stormed out of the meeting, saying that he would take up the matter with Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on his return from London. Later, Iqbal brought Zehri back to the meeting and assured him that he would hold a separate meeting with him to address his concerns regarding development funds for Balochistan. On the other hand, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Finance Minister Muzafar Syed expressed his concerns over federal government’s “cold response” to the province in terms of development funds. Amid this tense situation, the Annual Planning Coordination Committee recommended allocation of Rs 1,675 billion development funds for provinces for the next fiscal year.