LAHORE, Dec 16: Punjab Vocational Training Council (PVTC) chairman Sikander Mustafa Khan has said all-out efforts will be made to meet the rising demands of the industry and agriculture sectors of Bahawalpur.

He was speaking at a meeting of the board of management of the Bahawalpur Vocational Training Institute at the PVTC head office here on Thursday. The PVTC, Mr Khan said, would soon introduce courses for trades like saw-join fitters, press drivers and off units mechanic at the Bahawalpur Vocational Training Institute.

Since Bahawalpur has plenty of ginning factories, the PVTC would ensure availability of skilled labour in this field, he added. The selection of demand driven courses for each vocational training institute in the province had proved a key factor in the success of the council.

Mr Khan asked the board of management to urge more and more deserving to get training through these institutes. Senior member Abbas Raza of the board of management said the institute was providing training to the deserving people in the trades of assistant millers and electricians as Bahawalpur had also been a city of flour mills and required a large number of skilled people in the fields.

He pointed out that the Bahawalpur division was producing 34 per cent cotton and same quantity of wheat out of the total production of Pakistan and there was an urgent need of providing training to the Mustehqeen in skills like tube-well mechanics, pesticides/fertilizer assistants and livestock assistants.