QUETTA: Balochistan continues to face a dearth of quality human resources as the provincial government is indifferent to filling vacant posts while the number of unemployed educated youth in the province continuously grows by 0.1 million every year.

Khalil Baloch, a job seeker from Jhal Magsi, urged the provincial government to accelerate the recruitment process and provide jobs on merit to the unemployed youth as promised by the provincial government.

He expressed his concerns over the slow recruitment process in the provincial government departments as the recruitment in Agriculture Department was postponed for the third time.

The agriculture department, he said, had published an advertisement for some 1,184 jobs in various cadres for the third time. Over 50,000 youth applied for the said posts. Recruitment tests and interviews were conducted three times but the process was not completed, he added.

Baloch said that it appeared that the provincial government had placed its scheme for providing employment on the back burner.

“This unemployment will continue to increase anxiety among the youth which should be taken seriously,” Khalil Baloch said.

Samrina Magsi, an Environmental Sciences graduate, said the government should work hard to fill the vacuum and provide jobs to address the issue of unemployment in the province.

She said the provincial government should follow meritocracy and bring transparency to address the issue.

Expressing her reservations over the recruitment procedure, she said the recruitment should be made through well-reputed hiring firms.

“It would further frustration and may create violence in the society if young people are denied just opportunities of jobs,” she said.

Mukhtar Aamir, a person with disabilities from the University of Loralai, said the provincial government should allocate special seats for persons with disabilities and minority communities. But, unfortunately, both the persons with disabilities and minorities were left at God’s mercy during the recruitment in Agriculture and other departments, he regretted.

It is pertinent to mention here that under the vision of Chief Minister Abdul Quddus Bizenjo of providing maximum job opportunities to the youth, the provincial government had announced to fulfil multiple vacant posts on merit in a short period of time but nothing happened in the ground practically.