ISLAMABAD    -  Former Interior Minister Rehman Malik on Tuesday said the youth were backbone of any nation.

Speaking to a delegation of the Student Youth Council here, the Chairman Senate Standing Committee on Interior said, “Youth play a vital role in nation-building and development of the society.”

The delegation of Youth Council included students from various universities across the country and was led by Muhammad Shahzad, President YCP. The delegation comprised of Irsa Batool, Ayesha Zafar, Faisal Amin, Rehanullah, Farhanullah, Attaullah Mohsin, Ziyad Ali Shah, Muhammad Onais, Asadur Rehman and others.

Senator Rehman Malik said that youth had the power to develop a country and change the fate of the nation. He said youth helped in moving forward and determine the future of the country. 

He stressed that no country in the world could develop and progress unless it imparted education to the young generation. He said that Pakistan currently had the largest youth population. 

Malik said that more than 64% of the total population of Pakistan was under 30 years of age and more than 29% is between 15 years of age which was huge manpower. “Unfortunately, youth in our country are facing a lot of problems nowadays,” he added.

Senator Malik said: “We need to give equal opportunities of education to our youth and in every field and youth should be encouraged to take up and accept the challenges of the 21st-century world. We need to provide more opportunities to the youth by setting up vocational training institutes.”

The PPP leader advised the students to determine their future and work day and night to achieve the goal. He said that youth should play their role in the prevention and control of drugs by using their abilities. 

Malik said it would be a huge wastage of human resources if youths were not given an opportunity to exercise their talent. He said that Pakistan’s history had witnessed that youth had played a very important role in the formation of Pakistan.

On the occasion, the members of the Student Youth Council apprised Senator Malik of the problems being faced by them and they called for necessary legislation to strengthen the youth. 

The members of the delegation thanked Senator Rehman Malik for giving them opportunity to visit Parliament House and discuss issues.