LAHORE: Under the Prime Minister’s special initiatives, Rs80 billion had been allocated in the federal budget 2023-24 to empower youth while this year the sports endowment fund would also be set up, said Special Assistant to Prime Minister (SAPM) on Youth Affairs Shaza Fatima Khawaja.

Talking to media, she said Imran Khan rendered thousands of sportsmen and sportswomen jobless through stopping departmental sports while Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had restored departmental sports.

She said the Prime Minister’s Sports Talent Hunt for football was being started across the country in a bid to take the youth towards positivity and to eliminate toxicity spread among youngsters due to politics based on hatred and unrest.

She said after Eid-ul-Azha, provincial leagues would be started after completion of trials. She said that teams, which would come forward in provincial leagues, their national competition would be held by the end of July in Islamabad.

The SAPM said that economic well-being of sportsmen and sportswomen was important and prizes would be given in provincial leagues as well. She said Rs2-3 million would be a prize money for provincial leagues. She urged the youth to actively take part in it and said that the first trial event was being started from Lahore College for Women University.

It may be noted that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had earlier said that the youth are the country’s future and saving their future has always been top priority.

With the help of initiatives announced by the government in the budget 2023-24, the youth would become the architects of Pakistan’s development by starting their own businesses in IT, industry and agriculture sectors. He said the government was providing 100,000 laptops and small loans to the youth on concession rates for their start ups.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2023