KABUL (PAN): Mohammad Ismael Munshi, President Hamid Karzai's nominee for labour, social affairs, martyrs and disabled portfolio, has said that creating job opportunities for the jobless would remain his top priority for the next five years. Explaining his future plans, Munshi told the Wolesi Jirga (Lower House of parliament) on Thursday expanding vocational training courses to all the provinces, providing jobs to the unemployed both in and out of the country, establishing kindergartens, facilitating juvenile rehabilitation centres and improving the sustainability of the pension system would be the goals he would try to achieve during his tenure as minister. Munshi, who hails from northern Jawzjan province and had worked as deputy executive committee head for the Junbish-i-Milli Afghanistan, said he would strike agreements with neighboring Iran and Arab countries for Afghan labourers to work there in a move to cope with the growing joblessness. To a question, the minister-designate said a commission would be constituted to provide maximum opportunities to locals in projects instead of foreigners. Seeking a vote of confidence, Munshi told the lawmakers that currently more than 36 per cent of the population, a majority of them in outlying areas, was living below the poverty line. "But I would do my best to address this problem through creating jobs." He added 2.7 per cent of people were disabled in Afghanistan, with 95 per cent of them jobless. He said the disabled persons who had colossal talent would be given jobs. Currently, primary education has not yet reached 6.5 million children, said Munshi, who vowed to establish literacy and vocational centres in this regard. For nomads, he said, new departments would be established to improve the conditions of nomads. ss/ma
