ISLAMABAD: Pakistan: Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi on Monday expressed satisfaction on overall progress of various components of Prime Minister’s Youth Programme whose beneficiaries have now crossed 1.1 million.
In a meeting held at PM’s Office in Islamabad on Prime Minister’s Youth Programme, Khaqan Abbasi said initiated in 2013, the youth programme was reflective of the priorities of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) government to help the youth in becoming the most productive asset of the society and thus enabling them to contribute towards overall socio-economic development of the Country.
“Prime Minister’s Youth Programme is a successful initiative of the PML-N government for the socio-economic development of youth as overall beneficiaries under its six schemes are over 1.1 million now,” the Chairperson Prime Minister’s Youth Programme Leila Khan said while briefing the prime minister on the achievements of various schemes of the programme.
Leila Khan explained that under the PM’s Youth Business Loan Scheme, we have so far disbursed around 22,000 loans worth Rs 22 billion among educated and skilled youth, both men and women, for the promotion of entrepreneurship culture in the Country. She said that these young entrepreneurs are not only running their own businesses successfully but are also providing employment to number of other youths around them. She said that 91 percent recovery rate of the scheme, the highest in Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) sector financing, speaks of its success.
The Chairperson said that under the PM’s Interest Free Loan Scheme, so far more than 400,000 interest free loans worth Rs 9.5 billion have been disbursed among poorest of the poor across the Country. She said that 64 percent of the loans beneficiaries are females while 99 percent is the overall recovery rate of the scheme.
Leila Khan said that more than 64000 Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) beneficiaries have also started their own businesses by taking interest free loans under the scheme.
Leila Khan further told that under the PM’s Youth Skill Development Program, 100,000 unemployed youth have been trained in around 100 demand-driven vocational trades across the Country whereas 100,000 more youth will complete training by the end of 2018. She said that under the PM’s Fee Re-Imbursement Scheme, fee of more than 227,000 university students from less developed areas has been paid so far, resulting in increase in university enrollment.
Under the PM’s Youth Laptop Scheme, 300,000 laptops have been distributed among talented university students across the Country whereas 200,000 more “Made in Pakistan” laptops will be distributed by the end of 2018, she said.
The Chairperson Prime Minister’s Youth Programme said that under the PM’s Youth Training Scheme, above 95,000 interns have so far been placed in more than 4900 public and private sector organizations across the Country.
