Govt must move away from culture of expecting employment: BISP chief

KARACHI: Pakistan must move away from the culture of expecting government employment and instead invest in skills training to create sustainable livelihoods, Chairperson, Benazir Income Support Programme, Senator Rubina Khalid says.

Chairing a meeting of the Benazir Bhutto Shaheed Human Resource Research and Development Board here on Friday, Senator Rubina said the state’s role was not to provide jobs but to create opportunities for employment through skills development.

“Everyone wants a government job, which is simply not possible,” she said, adding that the government’s responsibility was to create employment opportunities, not to guarantee jobs.

Quoting former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto Shaheed, she reminded participants that “skill is your asset”, arguing that this principle was even more relevant in today’s rapidly changing global economy.

She said Pakistan should aim to produce skilled workers not only for domestic needs but for international markets, enabling young people to earn abroad and contribute to the economy through remittances.

She acknowledged that skills training were not new in Pakistan and that institutions had existed for decades, but poor planning had led to less meaningful results.

Referring to the now-defunct Waseela Rozgar programme, she said cash grants were distributed without proper guidance. “People were given 3 lac rupees, but many did not know how to use it productively.”

The BISP chairperson proposed residential training programmes, noting that quality institutions and faculty were concentrated in major cities.

Children from smaller towns and underdeveloped areas, she said, must be given access to education and skills that would allow them to become confident and self-reliant.

It was the state’s duty to provide children from backward regions with an environment of learning and opportunity.

Highlighting global labour demand, Senator Rubina identified hospitality as a sector requiring no investment and offering strong employment prospects worldwide.

She also pointed to the international demand for maids, noting how countries such as the Philippines had successfully developed this workforce for overseas markets.

She said efforts were under way to provide respectable employment to transgender people, though social acceptance remained a challenge. Training in professions such as makeup artistry and fashion design, she said, could help them secure respectable livelihoods.

Senator Rubina stressed that training alone was insufficient unless Pakistan prepared its workforce for international standards.

Workers, she said, must be taught professional ethics, discipline and responsibility.

“Our holiday culture does not exist abroad,” she warned.

She cited the opening of 90 new hotels in Riyadh alone and Germany’s recent demand for 400,000 healthcare workers as examples of missed opportunities.

“We lack internationally acceptable certification standards,” she said, adding that many local institutions were not recognised overseas. The certification process must be authentic and transparent if our workforce is to compete globally.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2026