Overview
- At the inauguration of the NED-affiliated Thar Institute in Tharparkar, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said a campaign portrays Sindh as underperforming to justify shifting authority and resources to Islamabad and rolling back the 18th Amendment.
- He asserted that Thar coal belongs to local people, likened its scale to Saudi Arabia’s oil, and said post-2008 exploitation has boosted the local economy and supplied power to the national grid, including Faisalabad.
- He pledged continued expansion of higher education, noting classes began in 2019 and that the new campus will be upgraded to a full university within the current government’s term.
- Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah said Phase-II is planned for completion in 2028 after which the institute would be converted to a university, and he highlighted road, water and health investments in Thar.
- Bilawal welcomed high female enrollment and students from Gilgit-Baltistan, and he alleged that Benazir Bhutto’s earlier efforts to develop Thar coal were blocked by a conspiracy.