Funds saved from defence budget be spent on Balochistan and erstwhile FATA, COAS asks PM
PM Imran Khan thanks armed forces for freezing defence budget "because Pakistan is going through difficult times"
June 29, 2019
ISLAMABAD: Chief of Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa has requested the federal government that funds saved from the military's voluntary cuts in the defence budget be spent on Balochistan province and the tribal districts of the erstwhile FATA region.
Prime Minister Imran Khan revealed the army chief's request in his speech on the floor of the National Assembly on Saturday, when he acknowledged the state of underdevelopment in Balochistan and the tribal districts and the government's efforts to undo the "lopsided development".
"One of our biggest problems is that the richer has gotten richer and poor has had no impact. Some areas have grown while other have been flung back. This is lopsided development. Balochistan is one of those areas, and the other is (erstwhile) FATA," he said, particularly mentioning Sardar Akhtar Mengal of the Balochistan National Party-Mengal (BNP-M) whose support proved critical for the government in the budget's approval.
The prime minister thanked the Armed Forces of Pakistan for cutting their chunk of the budget, and said Chief of Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa had insisted that the funds saved from the defence budget be spent on the welfare and development of Balochistan and the tribal districts of erstwhile FATA region.
"I want to thank the armed forces especially. Despite the fact that terrorism comes from across the border and that our soldiers continuously lay down their lives, they froze their budget just because Pakistan is going through difficult times," he said, recognising the contribution of the military in the government's austerity drive.
"They (armed forces) saw that the government is trying, and our austerity started with me, while our ministers have cut down pay by 10 percent. We have saved Rs300million at the PM House."
"Gen Bajwa especially told me that they want the money saved from this to be spent on Balochistan and (erstwhile) FATA," he said.
On Friday, the National Assembly unanimously approved a Rs1,153 billion defence budget after the military voluntarily forewent an annual increase in its expenditures.
Prime Minister Imran Khan's revelation came a day after Gen Bajwa publicly backed the "difficult initiatives taken by the government" and called on others to fulfill their responsibilities to help the government overcome the economic crisis.
"We are going through difficult economic situation due to fiscal mismanagement. We have been shying of taking difficult decisions," the army chief said addressing a seminar at the National Defence University (NDU) on Friday.
"Armed Forces played their part by voluntarily foregoing annual increase in defence budget and this is not the only step we are taking for improvement of economy. We understand that government has gone for difficult but quintessential decisions for long term benefits and what we are doing is playing our part. We all need to fulfill our responsibilities in this regard so that these difficult initiatives succeed," he said.
"There are examples in recent past when other countries also confronted similar challenges and they came out successfully after taking difficult decisions. We shall also IA wade through these challenges," added the army chief.
