LAHORE: Chief Minister Punjab Maryam Nawaz Sharif has inaugurated the province’s first-ever and flagship youth empowerment initiative, the “Parwaz Card,” aimed at providing financial support and employment opportunities to skilled youth.
Under the Parwaz Card programme, the chief minister announced interest-free financial assistance of up to Rs 300,000 for skilled youth, particularly those seeking overseas employment, to help them avoid exploitation by agents.
Addressing graduates of technical training institutes, the chief minister said that 250,000 young people have completed technical training, while over 114,000 have secured employment, including 97,000 within Pakistan and 33,000 abroad. She also launched three complementary initiatives — Creative Hands, Rah-e-Rozgar and the Skill Development Portal — to strengthen the province’s skills ecosystem.
The chief minister met 90 students who had completed technical training in various trades and interacted with them at their seats, inquiring about their skills and employment status. She expressed happiness over their success stories and appreciated students excelling in multiple disciplines, including a mosque imam who also completed an electrician’s course. She also met transgender students and assured them of dignity, inclusion and state support.
Speaking to graduates of institutions affiliated with the Punjab Skills Development and Entrepreneurship Department, the CM said the government wanted to invest every single rupee of the provincial treasury in the youth, adding that scholarships alone were not enough and that the state was now ensuring training, market access and employment.
She said more than 200,000 young people across Punjab had gained access to improved opportunities, while government teams had been sent to the Gulf region to explore job markets for Pakistani youth. She noted that skilled workers were now earning up to USD 500 per month by working from home after completing vocational training in fields such as tile fixing, welding, electrical wiring, IT and e-commerce.
Highlighting future-oriented reforms, the chief minister said artificial intelligence (AI) education had been made mandatory in schools, and disclosed that she had attended an AI training session with provincial ministers — a first for any chief minister.
“In the age of AI, every decision must be knowledge-based,” she said.
The CM reiterated her vision of transforming Punjab’s workforce from low-paid labour to a highly skilled and globally competitive asset, stating that Pakistan must move from “brain drain to brain gain”.
She said the Parwaz Card would support every skilled youth going abroad with financial assistance of up to Rs 300,000.
She concluded by sharing her vision of a province where products proudly carry the label “Made in Punjab”, urging skilled youth to contribute positively to the country and stay away from anti-state narratives.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2026
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