CM Balochistan Vows to Bridge Youth-State Gap Through Education, Skills, Jobs

Distributes certificates among graduates of technical, vocational training programme

Staff Report

QUETTA: Balochistan Chief Minister Mir Sarfraz Bugti has pledged to bridge the growing gap between the state and its youth through education, skills development, employment and meaningful dialogue, saying the government’s priority is to create opportunities that enable young people to join the legal economy and build sustainable livelihoods.

“The government’s objective is not merely to train young people and hand them certificates, but to enable them to stand on their own feet,” he said, pledging interest-free loans, business support and continued guidance to skilled youth so they could establish respectable businesses in their hometowns or elsewhere in the country.

He made these remarks while addressing a certificate distribution ceremony at the Chief Minister’s Secretariat in Quetta for graduates who completed technical and vocational training under the government-funded Resilience, Integration and Socio-Economic Empowerment Programme.

The programme is being implemented by the Industries and Commerce Department of the Balochistan government in collaboration with the Balochistan Rural Support Programme (BRSP). The trainees were from Kech, Gwadar, Panjgur and Kharan.

The Chief Minister distributed certificates among women and female students who successfully completed their training. Provincial ministers, advisers, parliamentary secretaries, members of the Provincial Assembly, Chief Secretary Balochistan Shakil Qadir Khan, BRSP Chief Executive Officer Tahir Rashid and other senior officials attended the ceremony.

Bugti said the event was an opportunity to recognise and encourage young women who had stepped beyond the confines of their homes, acquired practical skills and completed their training, describing their achievement as the beginning of a new chapter in their lives.

He said one of the government’s major challenges after assuming office had been to reduce the distance between the state and the younger generation.

“The government, cabinet and members of the Provincial Assembly realised that a gap had emerged between the youth and the state, particularly in terms of young people’s sense of attachment to the state,” he said.

The chief minister said he did not view violence alone as the fundamental challenge, arguing that the greater task was to reconnect young people with the state of Pakistan through practical and meaningful measures.

Bugti said the provincial government had brought the BRSP on board to act as a bridge between the government, state institutions and youth and to ensure transparent and effective implementation of the programme.

He said direct government implementation of such initiatives could lead to delays and administrative complications because of official procedures. The BRSP was therefore selected to provide training, guidance and practical support to young people, he added.

The chief minister stressed that the programme was not simply about training people and distributing certificates, but about helping them turn their skills into sustainable livelihoods and businesses.

He said the BRSP, with the support of the Balochistan government, would continue to guide the trainees, involve private-sector experts in preparing them for business activities and provide assistance for several years until they became financially self-reliant.