Barrister Khalid Khurshid of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) took oath as the third Chief Minister of Gilgit Baltistan (GB) on Wednesday. Now that GB’s political situation has become clear, the new CM and his cabinet must divert all their energies for the locals’ socio-economic uplift. It is encouraging seeing that the new CM wants to seek help from the opposition in ending the sense of deprivation among the area’s people.
Perhaps, the best way to end people’s marginalisation will be to start working on making GB Pakistan’s full-fledged province. After all, there has been a long-standing local demand for the region to be completely assimilated into Pakistan. Though GB is already enjoying the provisional status of a province, people’s real empowerment will begin only once GB becomes a constitutional province.
Nevertheless, conferring the status of constitutional province upon GB is not as easy as it sounds on paper. The GB government alone cannot do all the work. To make GB a constitutional province, the federal government must work closely with GB’s newly elected government. In fact, a better approach will be if the mainstream opposition parties are also made part of consultations over the matter.
Besides, giving GB a provincial status will remove all hurdles that are hampering the region’s development. The amendment to Pakistan’s constitution that will assimilate the region as the new federating unit will spur economic growth in GB. It will especially attract private investors to GB, thus creating job opportunities for the locals. Tourism and mining are the two sectors that can emerge as the primary employment providers and growth drivers.
That said, the incumbent government must also work to tackle the threats of climate change to the region. The government must collaborate with different partners, for instance, the Agha Khan Agency for Habitat, that are already working to tackle climate change.
https://nation.com.pk/03-Dec-2020/gb-s-new-government
GB’s New Government: edit in The Nation,Dec 3, 2020
Barrister Khalid Khurshid of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) took oath as the third Chief Minister of Gilgit Baltistan (GB) on Wednesday. Now that GB’s political situation has become clear, the new CM and his cabinet must divert all their energies for the locals’ socio-economic uplift. It is encouraging seeing that the new CM wants to seek help from the opposition in ending the sense of deprivation among the area’s people.
Perhaps, the best way to end people’s marginalisation will be to start working on making GB Pakistan’s full-fledged province. After all, there has been a long-standing local demand for the region to be completely assimilated into Pakistan. Though GB is already enjoying the provisional status of a province, people’s real empowerment will begin only once GB becomes a constitutional province.
Nevertheless, conferring the status of constitutional province upon GB is not as easy as it sounds on paper. The GB government alone cannot do all the work. To make GB a constitutional province, the federal government must work closely with GB’s newly elected government. In fact, a better approach will be if the mainstream opposition parties are also made part of consultations over the matter.
Besides, giving GB a provincial status will remove all hurdles that are hampering the region’s development. The amendment to Pakistan’s constitution that will assimilate the region as the new federating unit will spur economic growth in GB. It will especially attract private investors to GB, thus creating job opportunities for the locals. Tourism and mining are the two sectors that can emerge as the primary employment providers and growth drivers.
That said, the incumbent government must also work to tackle the threats of climate change to the region. The government must collaborate with different partners, for instance, the Agha Khan Agency for Habitat, that are already working to tackle climate change.
https://nation.com.pk/03-Dec-2020/gb-s-new-government
Published in Pak Media comment and Pakistan