June 15, 2026
Hafiz ullah Storai Sherani
ISLAMABAD
The federal government calls it a budget for all of Pakistan. Balochistan’s lawmakers call it something else entirely — a document that ignores their roads, underfunds their schools and hospitals, and quietly took 56 billion rupees back from the province’s own development funds.
Following the federal government’s presentation of the proposed budget exceeding Rs 18,771 billion for the fiscal year 2026-2027, Members of the National Assembly (MNAs) and senators belonging to various political parties from Balochistan have expressed diverse opinions and serious reservations regarding the Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP), highway construction, fund allocation, and the law and order situation in the province, while government representatives defended the measures.
Senator Jan Muhammad Buledi of the National Party did not hold back when speaking to Voicepk.
Senator Jan Muhammad Buledi of the National Party did not hold back. “We were thinking this would be a completely public-oriented budget,” he said. “When it came, we did not see anything like that. It was only felt across the board that perhaps these two parties have only distributed the wealth between Punjab and Sindh. They did not talk about anything beyond that.”
He challenged the budget’s non-tax revenue target directly. “Non-tax is some five thousand something — but this is a fraud. Without tax, how can you take money from the public? If it is a tax head, it should go into the NFC. That is a fraud which has been committed.”
On the 18th Amendment, he was equally blunt.
“The authority to collect taxes has been given to the provinces — but until today it has not been implemented. The FBR is sitting like a jinn, like an elephant. It is the king of corruption.”
On development allocations, he warned of consequences.
“Such small amounts have been allocated — projects that will not be completed for even fifty years. Balochistan is burning anyway. The gap between Balochistan and the federation is increasing, and it will increase further. It will be a very painful situation.”
Speaking on development projects, he remarked: “There are projects, projects are such that will not be completed for even 50, 50 years, they don’t see, they don’t understand them. Such small amounts of money have been allocated. We are not in the priority; Balochistan, as you have seen, is burning anyway. The situation of Balochistan, the situation of KPK, they have not addressed it anywhere. And we feel that this is what will continue, and the way Balochistan is moving away from the federation, the gap that is increasing, it will increase further and it will be a very, yes, painful situation.”
Khushal Khan Kakar, Chairman of the Pashtunkhwa National Awami Party and MNA, stripped the budget down to what he saw as its two priorities. “This budget has been presented only to tell us how much money has been kept for the IMF, interest, and debt — and how much for defense. And we have been told about how much burden there is ‘reserved’ for the public, because the budget is going to simply be for the IMF and the military, so it will be about how much the public will be robbed. The rest is just, as they say, like salt in the flour.”
Not everyone was dissatisfied. Jamal Shah Kakar, a PML-N MNA from Quetta, pointed to highway allocations as a win for the province. “For Balochistan, a significant amount has been allocated for the Karachi-Chaman road, Quetta to Zhob, the Yarik CPEC Motorway, and the Zhob Bypass. Balochistan has received a substantial share, and we are satisfied.”
Senator Danesh Kumar of the Balochistan Awami Party took a different view, reserving particular anger for the federal government’s decision to claw back provincial funds. “Resources are limited, so no one can be fully satisfied — but as a representative of Balochistan, I am not satisfied that no special funds have been kept for us this time. The 100 billion kept for N-25, the so-called killer highway from Karachi to Chaman — the Prime Minister said last year it would be completed in two years. I don’t feel it will be completed this year.” On the deduction, he was unsparing: “The federation has taken 56 billion rupees from Balochistan’s development budget, citing the ongoing crisis. I condemn this. The public of Balochistan is already very troubled — this will only trouble them further.”
Senator Bilal Mandokhail of the PPP connected the budget’s infrastructure gaps directly to the province’s economic potential. “The most important thing in Balochistan is our minerals. But to extract minerals and bring them to the stage where they generate income, first you need roads.” He pointed to a glaring omission: “For Quetta to Zhob, they have not kept even a single rupee. This is a very strange thing. Quetta to Zhob, Zhob to D.I. Khan, D.I. Khan to Islamabad — if you connect it, the route goes all the way to China. If you ignore this route, taking your minerals, your economy, and the vision of CPEC forward will be very difficult.” On health and education, he was blunt: “A few billion rupees have been allocated — below 50 billion. When you maintain such an irresponsible and non-serious attitude toward health and education, you think for yourself what the result will be.”
Maulana Abdul Ghafoor Haideri, senior leader of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (F), argued that Balochistan’s budget share should be calculated by area, not population. “Development works are not on people’s faces — they are on the ground. If you pull a water supply line, a road, electricity, gas, it has to travel on the ground. If it continues the way it has been done in the past, do not think of Balochistan’s development for a hundred years.”
Presenting the federal government’s position, Federal Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Dr. Tariq Fazal Chaudhry pushed back against the criticism. “The Prime Minister yesterday mentioned all these measures in the Assembly in great detail — for Balochistan’s farmers, its highways, load shedding, and peace efforts. All the funds Balochistan requires have been kept in this budget. Balochistan’s peace and development — whether it is PPP or PML-N — is on top of our agenda.”
However these are lines that Balochistan’s lawmakers and in particular public have heard before.