QUETTA: Chief Minister Dr Abdul Malik Baloch announced on Thursday setting up of a `Balochistan Skilled Fund’ to encourage professional activities and training programmes in the province aimed at preparing a skilled workforce.

Addressing a professional training programme launched by an NGO Traqee on Thursday, he said unemployment could not be brought to an end without imparting professional training to youths as developing countries earned big chunk of their national income from the services sector.

He said such training programme should have started earlier to resolve the unemployment issue in the province.

He said a vocational training centre was established in the industrial town of Hub for providing skilled labour to industries but it had to be closed because of negligence of authorities concerned.

CM hopes the move will help reduce joblessness

“We have decided to run polytechnic colleges and vocational training centres under government-private partnership in Balochistan for the development of this important sector,” Mr Baloch said.

He appreciated the efforts of Traqee Foundation for launching the training programme for youths, adding it would help end unemployment and provide opportunities to the skilled youth of Balochistan to seek jobs in foreign countries.

Unicef delegation: The CM sought assistance from international organisations to bring improvement to the affairs of education, health and water sectors in Balochistan.

“Lack of resources and scattered population are main hurdle in the way of development,” he said during a meeting with a Unicef delegation which called on him the other day.

Referring to the law and order, he said that in recent past there was an impression that no-go areas existed in Balochistan but the situation had improved after the provincial government took stringent measures in this regard.

“The government is taking steps to achieve MDGs (millennium development goals) and striving hard to improve indicators in health sector by reducing the infant and mother mortality ratio,” he told the delegation headed by Unicef’s Regional Director Karin Hulshot.

The chief minister said Balochistan may turn into a desert because of the fast depletion of underground water. Lack of funds was hampering construction of dams and reservoirs, he said and called upon the international community to bail the province out of the situation.

It may be mentioned that Unicef has signed an agreement with the government of Balochistan for the improvement of sanitation.

Published in Dawn, July 31st, 2015

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