Quetta Boards and Commissions

AGRICULTURE

There are two cropping seasons in Quetta district Kharif and Rabi: Kharif crops are sown in summer and harvested in late summer or early winter, while Rabi crops are sown in winter or early summer and harvested accordingly. The important Rabi crops are wheat, barley, vegetable and fodder.

The crops grown during Kharif are fruits, melons, vegetables, potato, fodder, onion etc. It is interesting to note that almost all the crops grown during Kharif season are cash crops, which reflect that the farmers are commercial minded; they mostly produce for the market. This also indicates that agriculture in the district is a settled sector. It is worth mentioning that melon is the crop which is sown both on irrigated and un-irrigated areas. It can be inferred that the farmers are rational. They use scarce resource (water) in an efficient and effective manner.

Rural women are involved in the agricultural activities within the walls of their houses. Some aged women do take part in assisting with agriculture activities, for which they are not paid. At the time of sowing and reaping the harvest, the demand for seasonal labour increases and male labour is employed on daily wages for this purpose. It is worth mentioning that rural local male labour has been replaced to some extent by skilled Afghan refugees, who are hard working and submissive.

Classification of Land:
It is evident from the table given in section 1.1 that 83 thousand Ha. arable land is potentially available for cultivation in the district. The area under cultivable waste is 43.37 thousand Ha. From the table, it can be seen that 47% of the 265,287 Ha. area is not yet reported. The area which is now considered as cultivable waste that holds potential for future development. The table below provides information regarding irrigated and un-irrigated areas.

Agriculture & Cooperative

Tel: 081-9201261 081-9203262
Intercom: 6215
Fax: 081-9201905
E-Mail: agriculture@balochistan.gov.pk

HEALTH

Good health services are based upon certain indicators in the form of available medical facilities, preventive and curative measures. The health services present in the district during 1995/96 are shown in the accompanying table. The total population in district Quetta in 1995 was estimated at 676,941. The first health service indicator, population per doctor indicates that it was 1,864 which shows that the district situation is very poor in terms of availability of doctors. Similarly gauging from population per hospital bed criterion, we find that there is only one bed for 488 people.Looking at other indicators given in the chart, we find that indeed government facilities in the district are quite inadequate.

Looking at the other side of the picture we note that the private facilities are also insufficient – though they seem to be more than government facilities (e.g there are 30 private hospitals). The number of Hakeem is not less than 80, while the number of medical stores was found more than 1,000. According to informed sources, there are more than 200 quacks in Quetta city and in its surroundings. It is interesting to note that almost all the specialist doctors work part time in clinics at evening time. Additionally, a large number of doctors, who are not government employee, also provide their service to the population.

Department of Health

Tel: 081-9201954
Intercom: 6500
Fax: 081-9201149
E-Mial: health@balochistan.gov.pk

EDUCATION

Education is a key instrument to lift a society out of poverty. The relationship between education and economic development is well recognized. Investment in education is essential for the future and betterment of the present generation. It is sad and unfortunate that successive governments, bureaucrats, and politicians have never given due attention to this issue. The expenditure on education has never exceeded 2% of GNP. The irony of this is that even this meagre amount was never spent on education. It was often diverted towards other sectors like defence. As a result, the literacy rate has been around 36% in Pakistan and far lower in Balochistan.

In Quetta District, there are 30 mosque schools for boys, while there are 232 primary boys schools and 127 primary girls schools run by government. The number of privately run primary schools is 78. The number of government middle schools is 51, of them 29 are for boys and 22 are for girls. The most important observation is that the number of middle schools, is far too low. There are 38 government and 40 private High Schools in the district. The proportion of girls’ High school within the total number was 44.7%.

Mosque schools were established to increase the number of primary schools in the society . The idea was to use the mosque from morning to Zohar time for education. They were not successful and government was forced to merge them into existing primary schools. Primary schools are basic education units up to 5th grade. Six years schooling is carried out under this system.

In addition to the primary schooling, Middle school further provides three years of schooling. High schools are those schools where education is provided up to 10th class.

In district Quetta, government controlled primary, middle and high schools are Urdu medium. Only private schools are mostly English medium. There is one technical school, one polytechnic institute and one agriculture college in the district. There are many English language centres in the city. Over the last few years, they have grown like mushrooms in and around the city. Similarly there are many computer training centres operating in the city both in public and private capacity. There are many private driving schools including one by the public department (specifically for police personnel).

Abnormalities in enrolment particularly in the case of girls have some deep-rooted causes, like:

1. Parental attitude toward girls’ enrolment in schools.
2. Shortage of female teachers and schools
3. Social and cultural constraints.
4. Rural girls help their mothers in household work.

Department of Education

Tel: 081-9201622
Tel: 081-9202810
Intercom: 6223
Intercom: 6003
Fax: 081-2821336
Fax: 081-9202727
E-Mail: education@balochistan.gov.pk

Economic Infrastructure and Communications

Economic infrastructure and communications play a vital role in accelerating the pace of development. It is a necessary condition for further development.

Mobilisation of labour from one location to another is facilitated by the presence of roads, while it also expands transportation of goods. With the construction of roads, towns develop rapidly and prosperity flourishes.

The District Quetta is well linked by road, rail, air and telecommunication with other parts of the country. Quetta occupies a central and strategic position. It is seen as the gateway to central Asia. Hence there are ample opportunities and bright chances to be exploited. In the near future Central Asian States could be linked with Quetta (and Pakistan as a whole) through road, rail and air traffic.

Commissioner of Quetta

Tel: 081-9203036
Tel: 081-9202895
Fax: 081-9203022
E-Mail: commissionerquetta@balochistan.gov.pk