INSTITUTIONS that provide technical education play a significant role in equipping people with skills necessary for a job in this technological age. Developing countries, therefore, use vocational training as a tool to build skilled manpower, thereby alleviating poverty.

To deal with the scourge of poverty and joblessness in Balochistan, the government started the construction of a polytechnic college in Uthal, a tehsil and the district headquarters of Lasbela.

The building of the college, which is located in Uthal`s outskirts, was constructed more than a decade ago, yet doors of the college are yet to be opened for students and the unemployed youth who have been demanding start of the classes for several years.

Interestingly, the college f alls in NA-270, the constituency of the State Minister for Petroleum and Natural Resources Jam Kamal Khan, whose f ather, former Balochistan chief minister Jam Mohammad Yousuf, proposed to initiate the work on this training institution.

The minister assured the people of the constituency several times that classes would commence soon, but he has been unable to fullfil his promise.

As the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) will create enormous employmentand business opportunities for the people of Balochistan, there will be an unprecedented demand for skilled workforce.

The authorities concerned, especially Balochistan Technical Education and Vocational Training Authority, should start the classes at polytechnic college, Uthal, on an urgent basis.

Qamar Ullah Roonjho Hub