Killa Saifullah, an exclusively rural district according to census definition, is well connected with other parts of the province and country by road. Both important towns, Killa Saifullah and Muslim Bagh are located on the national highway (N-50). More than half of the road length is metalled and buses, vans and pick-ups provide inter as well as intra-district transport. Because of the mountainous nature of the area, development of infrastructure and communications is a difficult as well as expensive task.

The total length of roads within the district is 405.5 kilometres out of which more than half (219.5 km) is metalled (black top). The national highway N-50 connects Quetta with Dera Ismail Khan via Kan Mehterzai, Muslim Bagh, Killa Saifullah and Zhob. The length of this highway in Killa Saifullah district is 195 kilometres. Another national highway (N-70) connects Killa Saifullah with Dera Ghazi Khan via Loralai which is 21 kilometres long in Killa Saifullah district. Both of these highways were constructed and are maintained by the National Highway Authority while the provincial Buildings and Roads (B&R) Division of the Communications and Works (C&W) Department constructs and maintains all the shingle roads and 3.5 kilometres of metalled road in the district. The shingle roads provide intra-district access to the various areas. Both the Muslim Bagh-Loiband and Killa Saifullah-Sharan Jogizai-Badinai roads provide access to Afghanistan, however, most of the cross-border traffic is using the Muslim Bagh-Loiband road. There are many fair-weather tracks, most of which were made and are maintained by the villagers themselves. According to an estimate about 85 percent of the villages are accessible by roads and tracks.

The non-existence of adequate road links to various areas of the district results in improper marketing of horticultural produce. Moreover, due to high maintenance cost of the vehicles moving on shingle roads or tracks, transporters demand high rates of fare which further affects the costs and decreases profit. Some areas do not have any road links, hence, agriculture products cannot be marketed. In the areas where small rivulets have to be crossed, shingle roads and tracks become difficult to travel during rains.

Any exact data on transport in Killa Saifullah is hard to find. The main reason is that Killa Saifullah is a newly incepted district hence motor-vehicle registration has not started here properly. Most of the motor-vehicle owners have their vehicles registered in other districts and only a few government vehicles are registered in Killa Saifullah. Another observation is that many vehicles including cars, pick-ups and trucks are illegally imported from Afghanistan without paying any duty. These automobiles do not have any documentation, hence, are available for a relatively low price. The Department of Excise and Taxation is responsible for registration of automobiles and collection of revenue from the owners but the excise authorities seem quite heedless regarding this issue. Some vehicles have fake number plates with no authority to check them.

Transportation to the major localities, Muslim Bagh and Killa Saifullah, is easy. Most of the buses and vans plying between Quetta and Loralai or Zhob pass through Muslim Bagh and Killa Saifullah. Pick-ups are used for intra-district travel. Fare of the pick-ups varies according to the roughness of the route. The passenger intending to sit inside the cabin of the pick-up is charged about double. A journey from Quetta to Muslim Bagh takes about 2½ hours while it is one hour more to Killa Saifullah. From Killa Saifullah to Loralai is about 1½ hour journey while the same time is needed for travelling to Zhob.

There is no airport or airstrip in the entire district. The airport closest to the district headquarters is in Zhob (145 km) and the one nearest to Muslim Bagh is in Quetta (120 km).

A narrow gauge railway line (295 km long) was built by the colonial government between Bostan and Zhob in 1928. The railway line served strategic rather than commercial purposes. This slow and inefficient train service has never been commercially viable because of the insufficient number of passengers and quantity of goods transported. There used to be a biweekly service between Bostan and Muslim Bagh and a weekly service between Muslim Bagh and Zhob. The development of the road transport made the railway redundant. Pakistan Railways stopped the train service on this section in June 1985. Despite closure of the section, railway staff is still posted on this section. There were about 500 employees on this section in January 1992, of which 146 were on Killa Saifullah-Muslim Bagh section.

The district is out of the Pakistan Television’s transmission range. A low range television booster has been installed at Muslim Bagh but the signal is very weak and reception is poor. Most of the television owners watch satellite-received television programmes. Nobody pays Ptv licence fees, which seems justified as the Ptv transmission is impossible to watch. At present no record about the number of television sets is available. Same is the case with radio sets.

There is no radio station in the district. The broadcast of the Radio Pakistan Quetta is received throughout the district because of a high power radio transmitter at Yaru near Pishin.

The Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL) has provided a telephonic network to some towns and villages of Killa Saifullah district through its 7 auto and manual exchanges. At present there are 2 telephone exchanges of 400 lines capacity at Killa Saifullah and Killi Ghulam Muhammad. Other exchanges are located at Nasai, Shinkai bah and Shina Lashia with 50 lines each and at Kan Mehterzai with 150 lines while the telephone exchange at Muslim Bagh has a capacity of 300 connections. The total number of telephone connections in the whole district is 527. This amounts to 37.6 percent of the total exchange capacity in the district. There are about 10 private call offices which provide inland as well as international telephone services to the public. A Customer Services Centre has been established at Muslim Bagh which provides telecommunication facilities – like telephone and fax – as well as client services like correction of telephone bills and provision of telephone connection’s application forms. Telegraphic and facsimile service, promoted by the Pakistan Telecommunication Corporation, is also available at Killa Saifullah and Muslim Bagh but internet and e-mail services are not yet available.

The revenue collection has improved during the last financial year (1995-96). Contrary to other government departments, the PTCL staff was satisfied with the revenue collection, may be due to their ability to disconnect the telephone of the defaulters. Many applications for provision of new telephone connections are pending but unacceptability of these applications, while there is capacity in the exchanges, is incomprehensible.

There are two post offices in Killa Saifullah district, one at Killa Saifullah and the other at Muslim Bagh. Three branch offices are also established by the Pakistan Postal Services Corporation at Khilgai, Kalu Killa and Sharan Jogizai. Moreover the Corporation has arranged mail service in 33 villages. Keeping in view the area and the population of Killa Saifullah district, such a small number of postal outlets seems quite insufficient. At some places one of the residents of the area voluntarily distributes the mail. In this way, it can be ascertained that mail is delivered door to door. However, delayed delivery of mail is a common complaint. Special mail services are not yet available in the district. Courier services are only available at Killa Saifullah and Muslim Bagh towns, provided by the private sector.

In Killa Saifullah, commercial banking services are provided by the National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) and Muslim Commercial Bank (MCB) while the Agricultural Development Bank of Pakistan (ADBP) provides credit services to the farmers. The principal business of the banks in Killa Saifullah is commercial banking. Agricultural lending was stopped after zero percent recovery and the business community does not apply for loans due to high interest rates.

Two branches of the Agricultural Development Bank of Pakistan are established in the district to provide loans to farmers for agricultural development. In order to give a loan, a pre-appraisal is prepared by a Mobile Credit Officer, who, after a detailed visit, prepares a financial appraisal. After financing, the bank keeps track of its investment and an evaluation of the loan utilisation is made. Usually agricultural land is mortgaged and a loan up to 66 percent of its value can be provided on which a 14.5 percent mark-up is charged. Sometimes personal guarantee is also acceptable if the loan demanded is up to 30,000 rupees.

In Killa Saifullah most of the loans were for the installation of tubewells. In 1995-96, the lending was linked with recovery therefore the amount lent decreased drastically to 3.4 percent of the amount of the previous year. This policy failed very badly, therefore it was repealed in 1996-97. In the financial year 1996-97, a recovery target was fixed at 13.5 million rupees out of which 7.284 million rupees have been recovered up to the end of May 1997. It indicates that detaching lending from recovery is a viable policy. The figures for the Muslim Bagh branch could not be made available.

The Agricultural Development Bank of Pakistan has introduced many schemes, some of which have been abandoned due to change of government policies. The bank has financed the installation of tubewells and as a consequence the irrigated area under cultivation has increased. Financing was arranged for the purchase of tractors and pick-ups, however, under the Awami Tractor Scheme only 3 tractors were provided to the farmers in Killa Saifullah at 12 percent interest rate. Any type of agriculture based industry can be financed under the bank’s manifesto. Loans can also be made for seeds, fertilisers and agricultural machinery.

In Killa Saifullah district, 29 villages have been supplied with electricity up to February 1997. The Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA) has constructed two grid station – at Killa Saifullah and Muslim Bagh – which provide electricity to these 29 villages through 6 feeders. Killa Saifullah, Allozai and Patozai feeders get electricity from Killa Saifullah grid while Muslim Bagh, Kan Mehterzai and Nasai feeders are connected to the Muslim Bagh grid. Up to mid 1996, electricity was provided to 4,572 consumers out of which 3,413 were domestic connections, 397 commercial and 762 connections for running tubewells. There has been a 127.5 percent increase in electricity connections over a period of four years. The major increase was in domestic connections.

The WAPDA is responsible for service provision and collection of revenue. There remains a continuos tussle between WAPDA officials and the consumers over non-payment of bills. The consumers have the excuse of under-development and demand for subsidies. It is difficult for the WAPDA officials to disconnect power supply because the area is tribal and people react aggressively if such an effort is made. The WAPDA officials complain about non-co-operation from the district administration. In such circumstances, the overall realisation of the assessed revenue from Killa Saifullah district is not more than 50 percent.

Killa Saifullah does not have access to gas through pipelines, however, liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) is available in cylinders for cooking. The Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC) has allotted agencies in the district but the sole agency in Killa Saifullah remains closed. In Muslim Bagh, there are 3 SSGC agencies. One cylinder of 10-11 kg of LPG costs rupees 310. LPG is also available through refilling in smaller cylinders of 2½ kg for 75 rupees. The agencies of SSGC cumulatively sell about 2,000 cylinders per month.

There are 4 rest houses (official guest houses) in the district: one in Killa Saifullah and 3 in Muslim Bagh. The Irrigation and Power Department owns 2 rest houses; one at Killa Saifullah and the other at Muslim Bagh. The other two rest houses are owned by the district administration and the provincial Buildings and Roads division. All the rest houses at Muslim Bagh are well-furnished and well-maintained while the one at Killa Saifullah is in miserable condition.

Most of the economic infrastructure and communications are developed and managed by government, either federal or provincial. Private sector is involved in transport, courier services, gas supply and banking only. Control of all these sectors by government creates a non-competitive atmosphere which ultimately hampers socio-economic development.

Killa Saifullah district is connected to other parts of the country by road. The total length of roads – including metalled and shingle roads – is 405.5 kilometres. Lack of financial resources and highly inequitable cost-benefit analysis are two major factors behind this small length of roads in Killa Saifullah. Without roads, development of the area is hard to imagine, therefore it may be imperative to construct more shingle as well as metalled roads to link farms to markets.

Presently, the district is out of the range of Ptv transmissions. Human resource mobilisation can only be made possible through Education, Awareness and Communication (EAC), of which television is an effective medium. Though this state run medium can promote the government perspective only, Ptv can still play a very positive role in change of attitudes, like on family planning and on the importance of women’s participation, through persuasive communication.

The district is well linked by telephone and mail, although, delays in mail delivery are a common complaint. Postal services need to be improved. Commercial banking is limited to only 3 branches of the banks. The Agricultural Development Bank of Pakistan is playing a crucial role in agricultural development which, in turn, can result in overall socio-economic development of the area.

Electricity is the most demanded facility for lighting the homes and to run tubewells to irrigate a field. In this regard efforts should be made to expand the electric supply network. However there should be an effective and efficient revenue collection arrangement with the help of the local administration.