QUETTA: British High Commissioner to Pakistan Jane Marriott met Balochistan Chief Minister Mir Sarfraz Bugti and discussed bilateral cooperation, climate change, governance, law and order, and reforms in the education and health sectors, officials said Friday.
Bugti said the provincial government had set up Balochistan’s first Climate Fund to address the impacts of climate change. He said his administration was taking steps to improve governance and transparency, saving Rs14 billion from the non-development budget during the last fiscal year.
He said the government launched the Benazir Bhutto Scholarship Program to provide quality education to students, including children of civilian martyrs, as well as transgender, minority, and other underprivileged groups. He added that the government, with the support of Akhuwat, would also provide interest-free loans to youth for entrepreneurial activities.
Bugti said the province had recruited 16,000 teachers on merit and was pushing reforms in education and health. He said Balochistan introduced its first Youth Policy and set a target to train 30,000 youth under the Chief Minister Youth Skills Development Program to prepare them for overseas employment.
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Marriott praised the provincial government’s reform measures and commitment to good governance. Both sides also agreed to expand cooperation in various areas, including training to enhance the professional capacity of the Counter Terrorism Department police.
