AMRAIZ KHAN
Funding from Zakat and Ushr has been slashed by the Punjab Government and it seems to have been diverted to Khamyab Naujawan Programmes and other schemes launched by PTI in Southern Punjab.
The decision has resulted in drastic reduction in both number of trades imparted by each center by at-least two per center and the number of trainees from 30 to 15 in each class. Some courses which offered training for 1 year have been reduced to 6 months. In Lahore there existed 13 VTIs which offered training to 2940 eligible males, females and transgenders in 2021`has been drastically reduced to only 859 trainees in 2022. A variety of trades were offered such as Computer, Electrician, Plumbing, Air Conditioning, Dress Making, Make-up, First Aid, Auto mechanic etc. These VTI’s cater to school dropouts and children whose parents cannot afford to educate them. This system of imparting vocational training is being done all over the world by government’s dedicated in welfare of the poor and deprived and relying on exports etc.
All the countries in the region whose skilled and semi-skilled labor are employed in the Gulf and Mid-East etc., possess certificates and diplomas from such vocational training institutes in their own countries. Pakistan, which unfortunately already has less than the required number of such vocational training centers will face a further reduction and this may reduce remittance earnings from expatriates.
What is intriguing is that funds from Kamyab Nau Jawan program have been offered to VTI’s located in South Punjab to fill the deficit, but no such relief has been offered, or is underway to those located in Central Punjab by the CM Punjab. The present Chairman, a retired bureaucrat has ordered all VIT’s to reduce their trades by two per center and number of trainees per class to 15 from the previous 30. There is no reduction in the administrative cost neither at PVTC nor on the cost of infrastructure. Most of the VTIs are located on rented premises. The number of managerial staff is the same and there is no reduction in perks or privileges of Chairman or MD etc. The slash in funding is impacting only on the end product for which PVTC was created.
Bangladesh which has achieved the status of second largest Garment Exporter nation after China, has achieved their targets and quality by working in coordination with Vocational Training institutes to provide them skilled labor to handle the latest machines and technology. The Industry in Pakistan will be more than willing to offer financial assistance and tools required to train labor in their industrial units.
