QUETTA: Balochistan Chief Minister Nawab Sanaullah Zehri has pledged to establish quality institutions from school to university levels.

Distributing laptops among students at a ceremony held at the Officers’ Club on Sunday, the chief minister said that Balochistan was rich with natural resources, adding that exploring its full potential could help the provincial government extend better education and healthcare facilities to its people.

“We can build hospitals like the Aga Khan Hospital,” Mr Zehri told the gathering of students, teachers and others.

He said the province was lucky to have a small population and huge amounts of natural wealth in the form of minerals and precious metals. These resources would be explored and used for the development of Balochistan and helping the provincial government pay Rs20,000 to 25,000 to each family per month.

The chief minister referred to the services of educationist Sahibzada Abdul Qayyum Khan “who changed the face of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa by imparting quality education to students in the 1950s”.

“If we are honest and dedicated to the cause of serving the people, we will find ways and means to develop our province,” he said.

The chief minister advised the students to devote their energy and efforts for attaining better and quality education and refrain from wasting their time and energy in wasteful activities. He said students should stay away from negative politics and devote their energies and efforts to gaining better and useful education. “We will not leave our students at the mercy of politicians having a negative mindset. We will try to recover from the losses students have suffered in the past,” the chief minister told the audience.

Provincial ministers, senior officials and the inspector general of the Balochistan Police were present on the occasion.

Meanwhile, the chief minister distributed prizes at a ceremony held after the final match of a polo tournament in Quetta.

Published in Dawn, September 25th, 2017