QUETTA: Authorities have decided to make necessary amendments to the Balochistan Technical and Vocational Training Autho­rity (BTEVTA) Act and provide required assets and human resources to the organisation.

The decision was taken at a meeting of the BTEVTA held here on Wednesday with Chief Minister Jam Kamal Khan Alyani in the chair.

Provincial Secretary of Labour and Manpower Saira Atta Bizenjo briefed the meeting on different aspects of vocational training programmes of the BTEVTA and the technical training centers run by the authority. She said that six technical training centers were being established in Quetta, Pishin, Panjgur, Sibi, Awaran and Kohlu.

The meeting also approved appointment of managing director of the BTEVTA and decided that the authority would launch a degree programme of technical courses.

The chief minister said that the Quetta Chamber of Commerce and Industry and trade unions should also be given representation in the working groups of the BTEVTA.

Presiding over another meeting on the provincial government’s social and financial initiatives, the chief minister said that the government’s focus was on poverty alleviation and it was committed to promoting trade and economic activities for which interest-free loans were being provided to the people to enable them to launch small and medium size businesses.

Finance Secretary Noor-ul-Haq Baloch told the meeting that under the vision of the chief minister, an emergency loan scheme of Rs550 million had been launched during Covid-19 epidemic in April. With the assistance of the Akhuwat Foundation, an NGO, interest-free soft loans had been provided to 14,765 people in Balochistan under the scheme, he added.

The loan programme was transparent and free of every kind of political and administrative intervention, the official said. Returns of loans had also started with the ratio of 95 per cent, he said.

Matters related to health card, the CM’s innovation challenge fund for information technology professionals, the scholarship programme for girl students and vocational training programmes were also discussed during the meeting.

Finance Mir Zahoor Ahmed Buledi, Additional Chief Secretary, Planning and Development Abdul Rehman Buzdar and officials concerned attended the meeting.

Published in Dawn, September 24th, 2020