Youth are the country’s future: Shahbaz

Punjab Chief Minister Muhammad Shahbaz Sharif on Tuesday said the youth were the county’s future and would have to come forward and play an active role for the resolution of problems of Pakistan.
Talking to position-holders in the intermediate examinations at his Model Town residence, he said the youth were the key to development and prosperity, and were the shining stars of the country.
The chief minister said the youth should utilise all their energies to counter the challenges being faced by Pakistan as the entire nation had great expectations of them.
He added that the Punjab government was pursuing revolutionary programmes for the welfare of the youth.
Special Assistant to CM Zaeem Hussain Qadri, Shaista Pervaiz Malik, the Higher Education secretary and position holders of Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Balochistan, Gilgit-Baltistan, Azad Kashmir and Islamabad were present.
“Today, talented and brilliant students of not only one province, but the entire country are sitting here. Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah, whose birthday is being celebrated today, wanted such unity,” he said.
He said it was the right of talented and brilliant students to be respected and the Punjab government had openly acknowledged the abilities of these students during the last four-and-a-half years.
“Besides cash prizes, tours to prestigious institutions around the world are also being arranged,” he said.
He said Punjab government had made revolutionary reforms in education.
“Merit has been promoted in every sector due to which Punjab has become a role model for other provinces,” Shahbaz said.
The chief minister said scholarships had been given to 40 thousands students under Punjab Educational Endowment Fund. “The amount of endowment fund has reached Rs 10 billion, and Rs 2 billion is being added every year to this fund. The poor but talented students are now studying at renowned institutions like LUMS and NUST,” he said.
Shahbaz said Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah had dreamed that the rich and elite would have similar facilities, but the poor were being deprived of basic amenities. “If Punjab can set up Daanish schools, Educational Endowment Fund, IT universities, distribute laptops, launch internship programme, it can be done in other provinces as well,” he said.