ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi on Monday said the PM’s Youth Programme was reflective of the priorities of PML-N government and was aimed at increasing the youth’s contributions towards the overall socio-economic development of the country.
Following a briefing given by PM’s Youth Programme Chairman Leila Khan at PM Office, he expressed satisfaction on the overall progress of various components of the programme initiated in 2013 and said that it would help the youth become a productive asset of the society.
The chairman briefed him on the achievements of various schemes. She termed it a successful initiative of the PML-N government for the socio-economic development of youth, as the overall beneficiaries under its six schemes had crossed 1.1 million.
Leila Khan said that under PM’s Youth Business Loan Scheme, so far 22,000 loans worth Rs 22 billion had been disbursed among the educated and skilled youth for the promotion of entrepreneurship culture in the country.
She said that those young entrepreneurs were not only running their own businesses successfully but also providing employment to many others. The 91% recovery rate of the scheme was the highest in SME sector financing and showed the project’s success, she added.
She said that under the PM’s Interest-Free Loan Scheme, so far more than 400,000 interest-free loans worth Rs 9.5 billion had been disbursed among the poorest of the poor across the country.
She said that 64% of the beneficiaries of the loans were female, while the overall recovery rate of the scheme was 99%. More than 64,000 BISP beneficiaries had also started their own business by taking interest-free loans under the scheme, she added.
Under PM’s Youth Skill Development Program, she said, 100,000 unemployed youth had been trained in around 100 demand-driven vocational trades across the country, whereas an additional 100,000 would complete training by the end of 2018. Under PM’s Fee Reimbursement Scheme, the fee of more than 227,000 university students from less developed areas had been paid so far, resulting in an increase in university enrollment, she added.
She said that under PM’s Youth Laptop Scheme, 300,000 laptops had been distributed among talented university students across the country, whereas 200,000 “Made in Pakistan” laptops would be distributed by the end of 2018.
She further said that under PM’s Youth Training Scheme, above 95,000 interns had so far been placed in more than 4,900 public and private sector organisations across the country.