Federal Minister for Planning Development and Special Initiatives Professor Ahsan Iqbal on Saturday assured that the Ministry of Planning was providing full support to the students from Balochistan for their education and skill development. The students of Balochistan fully support and his Ministry is committed to the speedy implementation of projects in education and development sectors for Balochistan province, which remained neglected in the past, he said. Our top priority is to facilitate the students of Balochistan by giving them more opportunities in the field of education by offering more scholarships, he added during an engagement session with students of Balochistan at the ministry.

Students from various districts of Balochistan were invited by the minister in order to listen to their issues and for their earlier redressal. Acting Chairperson Higher Education Commission (HEC), Dr Shahista Suhail was also present at the occasion. During the long participatory session that lasted over three hours, the students from various universities in Balochistan exchanged their views on level of education and issues related to their aims for high standard learning. The minister appreciated their views and assured his full support despite the tough financial situation in the country.

“Despite financial crunch in the country, we have increased the HEC’s budget to 68 percent which shows the determination of the government to raise the standard of education in the country” said the minister. The minister further added that for the first time in the history of Pakistan, the government has started a project to uplift the 20 poorest districts of the country and Rs 20 billion has been earmarked for this purpose. “We are conducting surveys to identify priority interventions in the poor districts that have not fared well in sectors like education, health and livelihood, ” the minister said, adding that the Province of Balcohsitan has been the top priority of this Government while chalking out and execution of development projects.

” Similarly, the Minister also said the scope of BISP will be extended to an additional 500,000 households for Balochistan to uplift the standard of living of the poor in the Province. He stated that the incumbent government had resolved to address the challenges faced by the province and in this respect, the government has allocated Rs 112 billion in the Budget 2022-23 for Balochistan, said the minister. The minister remarked that the youth of Balochistan should focus on education as it was the only vehicle of progress and development, adding that the youth of Balochistan by equipping themselves with education, could counter the conspiracies hatched to disrupt the peace in the province.

He also stressed the students to remain vigilant and keep an eye on suspicious activities of anti-state elements, who want to bring proxy war in Balochistan. “We have seen the consequences of proxy war in Afghanistan. It is the responsibility of the youth to alert their fellow students from being exploited by nefarious propaganda of anti-state actors, who wish to disrupt peace of Balochistan for their ulterior motives.” he added.

Credit:
Independent News Pakistan-INP