[Vikonbarius]

LAHORE - Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani on Saturday said that he could not be removed from his position by “unconstitutional” means as he had been elected by the people of Pakistan. While addressing the third convocation of Virtual University, Gilani said that several political parties had adopted “unconstitutional” ways to force him to step down. He said that education in general, and particularly education in science and technology, was a matter of life and death for the nation. He said the 21st century was a century of knowledge, creativity and innovation, and only those nations could bring changes on political and economic landscape that lead in the field of knowledge. On this occasion, the prime minister announced to set up 30 more campuses of Virtual University throughout the country including the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), Azad Jammu and Kashmir, and Gilgit-Baltistan. Gilani announced an IT Award of Rs 20 million to help talented students from the backward areas of the country. He said that Broadband Centres in all union councils of the country would provide 30,000 jobs to the students during the current year. He said that the federal government had already spent Rs 22 billion on the development of IT infrastructure and broadband connectivity. He also announced to allocate Rs 17 billion for strengthening broadband connectivity in other untouched areas of the country. He said the PAK-SAT satellite would provide one-hour free transmission facility to the Virtual University. He also directed the CDA to provide land for the construction of the central campus of the university in Islamabad, and ordered that a report in this regard be submitted within two weeks. Gilani also directed the minister for information technology to expedite work on 3G technology. He said that this technology would not only bring a revolution, but also create employment opportunities. He said that he had already directed the finance minister to create 100,000 jobs in the coming budget 2012-13.

Pakistan Today