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The budget in Balochistan has always brought both good and bad news, but over the years, public complaints have increased significantly and for good reason. Many people feel there is little in the budget for ordinary citizens, including the salaried class and government employees, who staged a protest sit-in during the budget session.
Moreover, members of the Balochistan Employees’ Grand Alliance not only clashed with police in Quetta, the provincial capital, but also attempted to march to the Balochistan Assembly to protest a mere seven per cent salary increase. Police subsequently arrested several of their leaders, prompting the alliance to announce a shutdown of government offices, educational institutions, and other public-sector departments across the province.
This is just the tip of the iceberg.
Besides the employees, the ordinary people spoken to for this story appeared either uninterested in the budget or angry with the provincial government, which they felt had left them in the lurch. “There is nothing for us in the budget,” was a refrain repeated by many of them, from labourers to rickshaw drivers, during conversations with Dawn.
