QUETTA: Balochistan Chief Minister Sarfraz Bugti on Tuesday said that promoting merit at every level can help eliminate the gap between youth and the state.

He noted that in the past, a single decision to send back qualified teachers from Punjab pushed Balochistan decades behind in the field of education.

He expressed these vie­ws while addressing a ceremony at the Chief Minis­ter’s Secretariat, organised by the Balochistan Education Department to mark the successful completion of school enrolment campaign targets.

He remarked that Balo­chistan was not deprived by others, but by its own people. The chief minister reaffirmed that the provincial government is ful­ly committed to ensuring that the benefits of development reach the common people, particularly the poor and working class.

The chief minister said that on the very first day on the assembly floor, he had vowed that no job would be sold in the province, and he has made fulfilling that commitment part of his daily life. He stated that 99.99 per cent of teachers’ recruitment in the province has been carried out purely on merit.

He added that in the Ba­­lochistan Public Serv­i­­ce Commission and other de­­partments, modern technology — particularly artificial intelligence — is being used to ensure transparency and merit-based appointments.

Published in Dawn, April 22nd, 2026