ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday launched (inaugurated) five initiatives of the Ministry of Planning, Development and Special Initiatives for the youth on Thursday.
Addressing the inauguration ceremony, Shehbaz stated that a big portion of the population is youth and the PML-N government prepared a very good programme for the youth during its tenure which were completed.
He said that under Punjab Endowment Fund and in seven, eight years Rs20 billion in scholarships were awarded to high achieving but poor students.
Similarly, Punjab skilled programme provided technical skills to the youth and the laptop programme etc were launched for the youth. The premier said that the laptop programme was criticised as a bribe to the youth.
He said that 600 students were sent to China for learning of Chinese language but regretted that a division is being created and seeds of hatred are being instilled in the youth. He said these programmes were made for the promotion of education in the country.
The prime minister said that the flood has caused a huge loss to the country and Rs66 billion have been distributed to the affected families besides other goods. The prime minister asked Ahsan Iqbal to sit with him to devise a strategy on how to speed up these programmes.
Giving an overview of the five initiatives, the minister for planning and development said that these initiatives included;(i) 20,000 internships for young engineers and diploma holders in development programme;(ii) 75 national top talent scholarship program on 75 anniversary of the country to be provided an opportunity for master and PhDs in 25 top universities through open competition;(III) 250 mini support complex would be established for youth in three years, and support board has been asked to organise national games from development budget;(iv) 20 under-developed districts transformation to top development districts; and (v) innovation support fund.
Iqbal said that in 2018, the size of the development budget was Rs1 trillion and the expectation was that in the subsequent four years, the development budget would be increased but regretted that in April 2022 when the present government came to power development budget was reduced to Rs550 billion.
The minister said that in the current fiscal year, the development budget is projected at Rs700 billion.
The minister said that a country whose population is 220 million and whose youth population is two third of the country, the current size of the development budget is insignificant for making the country’s future better.
He said that the government has tried to target the programs towards youth and this is the precise reason for these five initiatives. He said those who are claiming to be well-wishers have not provided the tools which were required. The HEC was destroyed and universities faced financial problems and even the literacy rate declined in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2022
Comments
Comments are closed.