Minister assures Baloch students of support
Baloch students of QAU protest in front of NPC. Photo: Online
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 will be fully supported and we are committed to the speedy implementation of projects in education and development sectors for Balochistan province that remained neglected in the past, he said.
Our top priority is to facilitate the students by giving them more opportunities by offering more scholarships, he said during an engagement session with students of Balochistan.
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.
“Despite financial crunch in the country, we have increased the HEC’s budget by 68 per cent which shows 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 Rs20 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 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.
Published in The Express Tribune, June 19th, 2022.