HARIPUR, Nov 25: Minister of State for Finance Omar Ayub Khan has said the government is taking radical steps aimed at creating job opportunities through enhanced economic activities and has planned to produce 300,000 skilled workforce every year.

He was speaking at a ceremony held to mark launching of the Havelian to Karachi service by the Chenab Express here on Wednesday. The minister said the government had put the country on the track of economic development which would lead to prosperity and better living standard of the people.

For overall progress, development activities had been launched in remote areas through rural support programmes under which uplift schemes had already been initiated in 2,000 selected union councils across the country, Mr Khan added.

The minister said the government also planned to launch a scheme for skill development under which training in various fields would be imparted to educated youth. Mr Khan said to ensure provision of better civic amenities the government had allocated huge funds for water supply, electricity and sewerage schemes.

About the newly-launched train service, he said the service would ensure comfortable journey to the people of Hazara division. The number of both air-conditioned and non-AC coaches would be increased soon to facilitate passengers, he added.

The minister said after the completion of the Gwadar Port, the Quetta-Havelian rail track would facilitate export of goods to China and Central Asia trade which was estimated at about one million tons per month.

The minister also announced construction of a level-crossing on the southern side of the Havelian railway station to facilitate residents of nearby areas, besides opening of booking offices at Haripur and Sera-i-Saleh stations.

Speaking on the occasion, Divisional Superintendent Ashfaq Khattak said the railways was expected to earn Rs80 to Rs100 million annually from this route and if the response of passengers remained encouraging, the speed limit of the train might also be enhanced from 60 to 120 km per hour.

Mr Khattak said the travel time between Havelian and Rawalpindi and to Karachi had been reduced by 2.30 hours and 7.30 hours, respectively. About conditions of railway tracks, the divisional superintendent said that an 11km-long track from Usman Khatar to Kot Najibullah railway station needed urgent repair for which Rs6 million had been approved and work was expected to start soon.

SHOPS LOOTED: Unidentified bandits looted cash and edible items worth thousands of rupees from three shops in the jurisdiction of Kot Najibullah police station on Wednesday.

According to watchman of Chapra Bazaar Mohammad Ashraf, four masked men broke into two grocery shops and a video centre after tying him up with a roadside tree and decamped with edible items and cash worth thousands of rupees. They also injured the watchman when he tried to resist, police said.

In another incident, armed bandits deprived a man of cash and valuables in the jurisdiction of police station Kot Najibullah on Wednesday. Naseem, manager of a Hattar-based factory, told police that he was on his way to Haripur on his motorbike on the Hattar Road when five armed bandits stopped him and snatched Rs18,000, a mobile phone, a gold ring and wristwatch from him.