Punjab CM’s people-focused initiative
The writer is a former op-ed editor of the Daily Times and a freelance columnist. She can be reached on twitter at @MehrTarar
On January 5, 2022 Punjab Chief Minister Usman Buzdar tweeted: “In the last two years, the youth faced extraordinary difficulties because of the pandemic. In that context, we have decided to give a two-year age exemption for the candidates of PMS [Provincial Management Service] exams and other [government] announced jobs to ensure equal opportunities for all applicants.”
The two-year age relaxation shall be applicable to 100,000 vacancies, ranging from BS 1 to BS 16, across Punjab.
The sheer lack of opportunities for quality education and employment for millions of people belonging to the low-income and lower middle-class strata of society is a sombre and perpetual reality of Pakistan.
In the last two years, especially after the pandemic wreaked havoc in Pakistan, as it did almost everywhere globally, the economy was struck an unprecedented blow that almost stunted its growth. Not many new businesses and industries, both public and private, were established. The most affected ones were not just those living under the poverty line or the have-nots but also the young of Pakistan.
Regular studies abrupted, online education not being a viable option for most of the young people with little or no resources, examinations of all kinds either delayed or cancelled, and little or no access to jobs, the pandemic-created damage is astronomical. But the government of Punjab, following the model of the government of Pakistan, is taking substantial steps for alleviation of people’s hardships. Despite having been forced to adopt measures of austerity during the pandemic, one thing has always remained of paramount importance to the PTI government: the short- and long-term welfare of the people.
With the creation of a social security net with the micro Panahgahs and Langar Khanas to macro schemes like the historic Sehat Card offering universal healthcare coverage, Chief Minister Buzdar’s latest announcement is another example of PTI government’s constant concern and empathy for the wellbeing of the under and less privileged.
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