The Balochistan Academy has expressed strong opposition to the significant budget cuts for Balochi literary organizations, including a 95% cut in its own budget, stating that this move hinders the promotion of Balochi and Brahvi languages and literature.
Balochistan Academy Kech founder Professor Ghani Parvaaz, Secretary General Shigrullah Yousaf, and members including Arif Aziz discussed the recent budget allocations for the literary bodies in Balochistan for the fiscal year 2024-2025 in a press conference.
They revealed that the Academy’s budget was slashed from 10 million rupees to 500,000 rupees, a reduction they termed as ‘hostility’ towards Balochi language and literature, demanding the restoration of the original budget.
The Academy members emphasized the vital role of literary organizations in preserving and promoting languages and cultures. They highlighted that these organizations already face numerous challenges and that such severe budget cuts would cripple their operations. They condemned the budget reduction as unacceptable.
While acknowledging the budget increases for other organizations, the speakers stressed that literary organizations cannot survive on such drastically reduced funding, especially given the current high inflation.
They pointed out that the Balochistan Academy, which has been active for 41 years, was allocated 10 million rupees in the previous budget. They argued that the government should increase support for literary organizations rather than reduce it.
The speakers noted a disparity between the treatment of literary organizations in Sindh and Balochistan, both governed by Pakistan Peoples’ Party (PPP). They said that while the PPP’s Sindh government supports its literary organizations and promotes the Sindhi language and literature, the PPP-led Balochistan government has drastically cut funding for similar efforts in Balochistan. They said this inconsistent behavior of the PPP’s governments n Sindh and Balochistan is unjustifiable.
They also revealed that other literary organizations have faced significant budget cuts. The Izzat Academy Panjgur had its 1 million rupees budget entirely eliminated, and the Balochi Academy Quetta saw a 65% reduction, amounting to 30 million rupees.
The speakers underscored the substantial contributions these organizations have made to the preservation and promotion of Balochi and Brahvi languages, literature, and culture. They demanded that the original budgets of these literary organizations be fully restored to ensure their continued functionality and impact.