QUETTA: Balochistan Finance Minister Mir Zahoor Ahmed Buledi has said that a plan has been prepared to set up a polytechnic university in the province, expressing the hope that the institution will go a long way in developing skilled human resource.

Addressing a cookery workshop organised by the Balochistan Women Association at the press club on Sunday, he said there was a dire need of trained human resource in Balochistan.

He said technical training centres existed in six districts of Balochistan, but they were all lying non-functional. The present government, he pointed out, had launched efforts to make these training institutes and centres functional so that the youth could get training in various trades from there.

He said the coalition government led by Chief Minister Jam Kamal Khan Alyani was paying special attention to women development to bring them on a par with men and enable them to play their role in the development of Balochistan.

“About half of Pakistan’s population is female and without involving women in the development of the country, Pakistan cannot progress,” Mr Buledi said, adding Pakistani women were talented and could play an important role in the development of the province.

He said that in the past women had not been given ample opportunities to come forward. However, he added, the present government was making all-out efforts to induct women into all sectors to utilise their skills and talent for the development of Balochistan. “Balochistan’s women working in different sectors have proved their ability and talent through their performance,” he said.

The minister promised all help and cooperation to the Balochistan Women Association in its efforts for providing skill training to women.

The president of the Balochistan Women Association, Sana Durrani, while speaking on the occasion, said that cooking training workshops had started in 2011 and a large number of women had benefited from it. She claimed that over 100 women had launched their own business after getting training.

Published in Dawn, August 26th, 2019