SHANGLA: KP Minister for Culture and Labour Shaukat Yousafzai said on Saturday that the youth must learn different skills as huge opportunities for skillful youth would soon appear under various projects of the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).
He was addressing the certificates and toolkits distribution ceremony for the youth of district Shangla at Bisham. The ceremony was organized under the livelihood support and promotion of small community infrastructure project (LACIP-II) implemented by SRSP in collaboration with Pakistan Poverty Alleviation Fund (PPAF).
He said that Shangla was the most backward district in the country which remained neglected during the previous rules. “The previous elected representatives did nothing for the development of the district except accumulating wealth and making bank balances. This is why the majority of the residents of this district go to coal mines for work,” he said.
He said that youth was the real manpower of Pakistan and PTI was giving higher importance to the youth. “Bulk of opportunities were unfolding under CPEC for the young population of the country and those who have skill will have a better market,” he said and praised PPAF and SRSP for imparting skills training to the youth of district Shangla.
SRSP district Shangla officer Abdul Qahar said that about 325 youth, both male and female, of the district from four union councils were being trained in different skills and trades for livelihood enhancement. “After the trainings proper toolkits will be given to them so that they can earn livelihood for their families,” he said.
“I belong to the remote village of union Council Malak Khel, There are no employment and Livelihood opportunities in our area for the reason that majority of the people are working in coal mines in Punjab, Sindh, Balochistan and other districts of khyber Pakhtunkhwa,” Alam Khan, a youth from Malak Khel, said.
He said that he received three months of training in Tailoring under the LEP component of LACIP-ll of PPAF and SRSP and got the necessary tool-kit for working and he will start his own business of Tailoring.
Programme Manager LACIF, PPAF Nasrullah congratulated the youth and thanked Mr Yousafzai for attending the ceremony and distributing the certificates among the youth. “PPAF wants to bring the poor communities out of poverty for which giving skills to the youth was an essential component,” he said and hoped that the youth who received training and toolkits would support their families to earn livelihood in a respectable way.
At the end Mr Yousafzai distributed toolkits and certificates among 80 youth from the three different union councils of Shangla who completed their trainings in different skills including computer literacy, plumbing, electrician and auto mechanic.
