F.P. Report
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi Monday said the PM’s youth programme was reflective of priorities of PML-N government aimed at increasing their contributions towards overall socio-economic development of the country.
During a briefing given by Chairperson of Prime Minister (PM)’s Youth Programme Leila Khan here at the PM Office, he expressed satisfaction on overall progress of various components of the programme initiated in 2013 and said it would help the youth become productive asset of the society.
The chairperson 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 overall beneficiaries under its six schemes had crossed 1.1 million.
Leila Khan said under PM’s Youth Business Loan Scheme, so far 22,000 loans worth Rs22 billion had been disbursed among educated and skilled youth, for the promotion of entrepreneurship culture in the country.
Those young entrepreneurs were not only running their own businesses successfully but also providing employment to number of others, she said and added the 91% recovery rate of the scheme was the highest in SME sector financing and spoke of its success.
She said under the PM’s Interest Free Loan Scheme, so far more than 400,000 interest free loans worth Rs9.5 billion had been disbursed among poorest of the poor across the country.
She said 64% of the loans beneficiaries 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.
Under PM’s Youth Skill Development Program, 100,000 unemployed youth had been trained in around 100 demand-driven vocational trades across the country, whereas 100,000 more youth would complete training by the end of 2018. Under PM’s Fee Re-Imbursement Scheme, fee of more than 227,000 university students from less developed areas had been paid so far, resulting in increase in university enrollment, she added.
She said under PM’s Youth Laptop Scheme, 300,000 laptops had been distributed among talented university students across the country, whereas 200,000 more “Made in Pakistan” laptops would be distributed by the end of 2018.
Under PM’s Youth Training Scheme, above 95,000 interns had so far been placed in more than 4,900 public and private sector organizations across the country, she maintained.
