F.P. Report
PESHAWAR: As an important step towards promoting self-employment in the province, Chief Minister Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Sardar Ali Amin Khan Gandapur has decided to launch “Youth Entrepreneurship Program” under which, soft loans would be provided to skilled youth, thereby enabling them to initiate their own business.
This decision, he has taken while chairing the 1st meeting of Sports & Youth Affairs department held here at Chief Minister’s House Peshawar, the other day. It was decided in the meeting that the proposed program, initially, would be launched at a cost of Rs. 1.00 billion. It is imperative to mention here that the soft loans under this program, would not be provided to any individual but to the clusters of skilled youth interested in initiating their own business. Each cluster of professionals will be able to avail loan ranging from Rs. 2.00 million to Rs. 10.00 million.
The Chief Minister has directed the relevant quarters to finalize the strategy for implementing this flagship program of the provincial government, adding that ultimate purpose of this program is to assist the talented and skilled youth interested in initiating their own business in accordance with their professional skills and capabilities.
He said that promoting employment opportunities in the province is one of the priority areas of his government; skilled youth across the province would be provided with full support in this regard. Similarly, the chief minister gave go ahead to launch Youth Skill Development and Employment Program as well, and directed the authorities concerned that youth from all the districts across the province, should be provided with this opportunity, adding that quota of each district be allocated according to its population for this purpose.
Under the program, initially 20,000 youth would be imparted with specialized technical and vocational trainings. It will also be integral part of the program to ensure that the youth being trained under this program, are provided with employment within country and abroad. Apart from this, the chief minister accorded approval to the proposed initiatives under Youth Education Program, through which, merit based scholarships would be provided in IT, modern technical and digital sectors, in addition to establishing Incubation Centre,-E-Learning facility, Career Counseling and providing access to educational institutions worldwide. Certification in advance courses in Digital Skills and provision of Merit Based Internships in market driven disciplines are also the parts of this program.
The Chief Minister has termed merit based internships in markets driven disciplines as need of the hour and directed the quarters concerned to devise proper policy for this purpose. He, on this occasion, also directed the authorities to ensure implementation of the project regarding establishment of playgrounds at Tehsil Headquarters across the province and added that in the first phase, available government lands/sites should be utilized for this purpose.
“Where there such sites are available, should be notified as playground immediately”, he directed and added that formal letters should be sent to the Deputy Commissioners of all districts to identify suitable land in the remaining tehsils for this purpose. Similarly, the chief minister directed them to devise a plan for promoting polo and other traditional games of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, further directing them to form a provincial polo team without any delay and make sure that the polo team has participated in the upcoming polo festival. While deciding to hold Horse and Cattle Show in Peshawar this year, the chief minister has directed to complete all the necessary arrangements in this regard.
He underlined the need for pragmatic steps for promoting tent pegging, archery, horse riding, swimming and all other traditional games of the province, adding that Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has rich talent in all traditional sports, we just need to brand this talent in an effective manner. Moreover, he directed them to take necessary steps for providing shooting club, riders club and other necessary facilities in the province. He also directed for speedy completion of remaining works of Arbab Niaz Cricket Stadium Peshawar and said that the funds required for this purpose would be provided on priority.
He further directed to ensure completion of ongoing development projects including Hayatabad Cricket Stadium, D.I.Khan Sports Complex and Kalam Cricket Stadium adding that available resources must be utilized in a judicious and useful manner. He also directed that the development projects of sports sector should be made part of the development portfolio being assisted by the World Bank and Asian Development Bank.
He emphasized to have a special focus on promoting sports and other recreational activities in the merged districts and said that all available options should be utilized for the purpose. The chief minister, on the occasion, was also briefed about the upcoming sports events in the province and was told that inter-regional games would be held by the end of this month. These games would be arranged at sports complexes of Peshawar, Charsadda and Kohat. Immediate after these inter-regional games, provincial coaching camps would also be arranged, in which, the players would be trained and prepared for participation in the upcoming event of inter-provincial games.
