September 25, 2002	Wednesday	Rajab 17, 1423

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MUZAFFARABAD, Sept 24: The Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) government has prepared a Rs4 billion master plan for computer literacy in the public and private sector, an official here said.

AJK Additional Chief Secretary (development) Sardar Abdur Rashid Khan told the opening session of a two-day workshop on Tuesday that Rs130 million were being spent during the ongoing year on computer education in Azad Kashmir, which, he believed, would also provide employment opportunities to the people of the state.

The event was organized by the AJK planning and development department with the help of the European Commission.

He lamented that unemployment was increasing alarmingly in the AJK. It could not be reduced by appointing 20 to 25 youth as teachers in any constituency because the number of educated unemployed persons increased every year, he added.

Mr Khan said the persons whose age ranged between 15 to 35 were 39 per cent of the state’s population, and if they achieved professional skills in different sectors, they could play a pivotal role in the uplift of the area.

Mr Khan said the international donor agencies had been ignoring Azad Kashmir in the past for being a disputed territory, but now they had changed their attitude. In this connection, he added, the European Commission was extending assistance to Azad Kashmir with its experts as well as resources.

He said the government had issued strict directives that the uplift funds should be spent in all the districts without any discrimination.

Others who also spoke at the workshop included: European Commission representative Dr Pervez Niazi, workshop coordinator Iftekhar Qureshi, AJK Health Department Director-General Dr Chaudhry Mohammad Akram and Elementary Education Director Sardar Khurshid Khan.