Welfare of youth top priority: PM

ISLAMABAD: Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaarul Haq Kakar on Thursday, terming the young generation as the future of nation, said the welfare of the youth was the top priority of the government.

Chairing a meeting of the Prime Minister Youth Programme, he directed that the disbursement of loans under the Programme should be done with utmost care and responsibility. He further directed that the youth of the newly merged districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa should be given special attention in PM Youth schemes.

The prime minister ordered to evolve a special strategy to achieve the desired results of the skill development schemes.

He directed that training programmes should also be started for master trainers regarding skill development to increase their capacity and to impart quality training to others.

During the meeting, the prime minister was given a detailed briefing regarding the PM’s Youth Programme. It was informed that 550,000 people had been trained under the PM Skill Development Programme since 2013 while some 56,000 more people would be trained mostly in high-tech skills in the next phase.

Additionally, it was informed that under PM Laptop Scheme, 500,000 laptops were distributed to the youth since 2013, while 100,000 more laptops would be distributed to the youth in current year.

The meeting was further informed that under the PM Youth Business and Agriculture Loan Scheme, easy loans worth Rs100.7 billion have been provided to the youth since 2013.

Similarly, some 83,323 youths were given opportunities in badminton, football, squash, volleyball and other sports under PM Talent Hunt and Sports League.

The meeting was informed that schemes worth Rs80 billion have been earmarked in the PM Youth Development Package 2023-24. These schemes include Education Endowment Fund, Women Empowerment, Business and Agriculture Loan, Tube-Well Solarisation, Laptops Scheme, Sports Endowment Fund, Green Revolution, Digital Hub One Window.

Special Assistant to the Prime Minister for Tourism and Youth Affairs Syed Wasi Shah and other concerned government officials participated in the meeting.

Meanwhile, caretaker Minister for Privatisation and Inter-Provincial Coordination Fawad Hassan Fawad called on caretaker Prime Minister Anwaarul Haq Kakar.

The caretaker minister for Privatisation and Inter-Provincial Coordination briefed the prime minister about privatisation process of the State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs).