Over 119,000 Eligible Families in Balochistan Left Without Housing Aid, World Bank Warns

QUETTA: The World Bank has warned the federal and Balochistan governments that restricting housing assistance in the province has left 119,049 verified and eligible families without financial support, potentially worsening their existing economic vulnerabilities.

In a detailed letter sent to the federal and provincial governments, the World Bank said 84% of the eligible beneficiaries belonged to extremely poor and vulnerable groups. Around 28% of the families had monthly incomes of less than $30, while another 26% earned between $31 and $70 per month.

The affected households include 39% tenants, 37% daily-wage workers and 8% small farmers. According to the World Bank, these families have limited savings, little access to formal credit and few productive assets, leaving them poorly equipped to cope with sudden economic or natural shocks.

World Bank Country Director Bilorma Imga-Awazar, in a letter to the federal Ministry of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Planning and the Chief Secretary of Balochistan, said that as of June 22, 2026, the decision to restrict housing assistance to 62,966 beneficiaries in the first phase and subsidy support to 97,000 families had left a large number of verified eligible households without any financial assistance.

The letter also raised concerns that the decision was made public before a joint communication strategy with the World Bank had been finalized. Families whose verification had been completed and who had signed the required project documents could still expect to receive assistance, the bank noted.

The World Bank said 66,120 complaints had been registered in the project’s grievance management system by the deadline. It recommended that each complainant be contacted individually, formally informed of the decision and asked to provide proof that the notification had been received.

The bank warned that without housing assistance, low-income families could be forced to divert their limited income from basic necessities such as food, healthcare and education towards repeated repairs of temporary shelters. Some families could also be compelled to take on debt or sell productive assets to cope with the situation.

The World Bank further cautioned that failure to rebuild strong and disaster-resilient homes could leave affected families living in unsafe structures, increasing their vulnerability to future floods, storms, earthquakes and extreme heatwaves.

It also warned that excluding verified and eligible beneficiaries could lead to increased complaints, inequality and perceptions of injustice, potentially further undermining public trust in government institutions and development programmes.

The World Bank stressed that a transparent and credible grievance redress mechanism would be essential to reducing legal, administrative and reputational risks during the completion of the housing assistance programme.