Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif has decided to constitute a committee within the next few days, which will make its recommendations for creation of job opportunities in the province and in the light of these recommendations, a course of action will be evolved and implemented speedily. Presiding over a meeting on Saturday, Shahbaz said unemployment was a big challenge for the Punjab government and it was working tirelessly to provide the youth with jobs. He said Pakistan could not be put on the road to progress without overcoming the problems of unemployment. He said the youth should be made self reliant by imparting vocational training to them.
He said the government was planning on a war footing to create new jobs, adding the private sector must also do its bit in this regard. The chief minister said imparting various skills to the young generation according to the needs of the market would help eliminate unemployment. He said if the youth were imparted vocation training, they could earn the country handsome foreign exchange by getting jobs abroad.
He said that Pakistanis were talented and there were a number of skilled men and women in villages who could be made self-reliant if their skills were polished up. He said the Punjab Small Industries Corporation (PSIC), Technical Education and Vocational Training Authority (TEVTA) and the Punjab Vocational Training Council (PVTC) have to move ahead and play their due role in eradicating unemployment. He directed the officials concerned to map out a solid strategy to train the youth in modern technological skills and to promote the cottage industry. He said women comprised half of the country’s population and they should not be left aside because they have a role to play in development.
He said eliminating unemployment was one of the government’s priorities and special measures would be taken in this regard in the next budget. He lauded the services of “Akhuwat”, a non government organization, for the ailing humanity and for elimination of unemployment. He invited Akhuwat and PSIC to evolve a common plan for elimination of unemployment. He said that a revolution could be brought in the country by preparing skilled manpower keeping in view the demands of the market Khawaja Saad Rafiq, Pervaiz Malik, Zakiya Shahnawaz, Planning & Development chairman, finance, Industries and social welfare secretaries, TEVTA chairman, Punjab Small Industries Corporation MD, Lahore commissioner and experts from private sector attended the meeting.
Earlier, Akhuwat Chief Executive Amjad Saqib while giving a briefing on efforts to create job opportunities said 30,000 new jobs could be created within a year under a special programme evolved for this purpose and the numbers could be increased gradually every year. He said that Akhuwat had distributed Rs 1.6 billion interest free loans among deserving persons in the province.
