Government has managed to revive economy: Musharraf

The present government has managed to revive the economy and maximum efforts have been initiated to boost education sector apart from employing its means to develop human resources through imparting technical education in the country.
This was stated by President Pervez Musharraf while addressing a gathering after inaugurating CMH Lahore Medical College, a project founded by Corps Headquarters, Lahore, on Saturday.
"Fortunately, Pakistan is blessed with a large reservoir of natural resources, but the country was facing an acute shortage of human resource development institutions. The National Commission for Human Development had been established under Dr Nasim Ashraf, which was working in 50 districts and will be spread all over the country by December 2007", he added.
Musharraf said that he was personally spearheading education and health initiatives not only to provide relief to people, but also to narrow down the gap between the haves and have-nots in the country.
He said the promotion of technical education and skill development would provide plenty of job opportunities and reduce poverty, thereby addressing issues of extremism and law and order in the country. Highlighting the present government's emphasis on education, he said that to promote literacy in the country the budgetary allocation in this sector has been increased from Rs 1.6 billion in 1999-2000 to Rs 22.9 billion.
He said the government has announced free primary education in the country, while nine new universities of engineering and technology will soon be established in the country in collaboration with foreign investors under the Higher Education Commission (HEC).
About extremist elements, Musharraf said that such anti-state forces cannot succeed in their nefarious designs and the government shall utilise all its energies to uproot the menace of terrorism.
Regarding the CMH Medical College project, he said the medical education was a prime necessity for extension of health care to all segments of society. He lauded the efforts of Lahore Corps Commander Lieutenant General Shafaat Ullah Shah for establishing a cost-effective quality medical college in a record time.
He hoped that the CMH Lahore Medical College would help change the complexion of medicare for the army and prove a centre of excellence for pursuing medical knowledge and research in the country. Lieutenant General Shafaat Ullah Shah gave a comprehensive briefing on the project.
He informed that the CMH Lahore Medical College would on one hand prove a centre of excellence with state-of-the-art training and research facility for medical sciences; while on the other, it would ensure availability of top class specialists.
Earlier, President Pervez Musharraf also visited Lahore Institute of Technical Education (Lite) another project established by the Lahore Corps to promote technical education and vocational training to unemployed youth in the society with a view to preparing low and medium level work force. The Institute has been affiliated with the National Vocational and Technical Education Commission (Navtec) and the Punjab Board of Technical Education (PBTE).