ISLAMABAD: In a bid to provide livelihood opportunities to youth, the government Wednesday announced the revival of various schemes under the Prime Minister’s Youth Programme (PMYP).
Speaking at a presser here, Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Marriyum Aurangzeb along with special assistant to the prime minister on youth affairs Shaza Fatima Khawaja, said that the programme was launched in 2013 by the then prime minister Nawaz Sharif.
She said that the programme was shut down by the previous government, which is now being relaunched as Prime Minister Shehbaz had been working on it shortly after coming into power.
Aurangzeb said that the loan scheme under Prime Minister Youth Programme is aimed at providing loans to more than 50 million youth in the age bracket of 15 and 29.
She said the youth can access these opportunities by visiting www.pmyp.gov.pk.
Speaking on the occasion, Fatima Khawaja said that approval has been accorded for the business and agriculture loans.
She said that the scheme is aimed at promoting entrepreneurship in the country, adding there will be no interest or collateral on loan up to Rs500,000.
She said that the women would also be encouraged to get this loan, adding there will be a five percent interest rate on the loan of Rs1.5 million, while seven percent interest rate will be charged on the loan over Rs1.5 million and 7.5 million.
She said that it is the first time that a national youth employment policy will be prepared which will bridge the gap between industries and academia. Under the policy, our aim will be to provide two million jobs to the youth every year, she added.
Under Skills Development Programme, she said that 100,000 youth will be provided with training in different fields with special focus on IT. Fatima said that the laptop scheme is also being revived, adding this year, laptops will be distributed among 100,000 high achievers.
“There will be 50 percent share of women while transgender will also be accommodated. The quota of Balochistan in this scheme has also been doubled,” she added.
She said that the prime minister will soon launch the scheme which is aimed at enabling our youth better compete with the world.
She said that sports initiatives are also being launched under the Prime Minister’s Youth Programme, adding talent hunt has been completed for hockey competitions and soon provincial and national leagues will be held.
She said that applications are currently being accepted for the cricket and football competitions as the government strongly believes in empowering its youth as they are the future of the country.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2022
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