Special Assistant to the Prime Minister (SAPM) on Youth Affairs Shaza Fatima Khawaja has said sports play major role in ensuring holistic development of children.
Addressing a press conference here on Monday, she said that from today, Prime Ministers Sports Talent Hunt for football was being started across the country. She said that the purpose of the initiative was to take the youth towards positivity and to eliminate toxicity spread among youngsters due to politics based on hatred and unrest.
She said the PM Youth Programme was launched in 2013 by the PML-N government, and Maryam Nawaz had presented its idea. She said that a number of programmes were started under the Youth Programme like scholarships, laptops, Qarz-e-Hsna, business loans, internships, etc. She said that during the last one year, thousands of children participated in hockey and volleyball trials. Shaza said that in the coming two weeks, trials would be conducted across the country and calendar in this regard would also be shared. She said that after Eidul Azha, provincial leagues would be started on completion of trials.
She said that teams, which would come forward in provincial leagues, their national competition would be held by the end of July in Islamabad. The SAPM said that economic well-being of sportsmen and sportswomen was important so prizes would be given in provincial leagues as well.
She said that it was unfortunate that in previous years, departmental sports were stopped by the previous government. Shaza Fatima said that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had restored departmental sports.
The provincial government had collaborated with the federal government in very good way and she hoped that collective efforts would definitely yield positive results for providing good opportunities to children in sports, she added. She said that Rs 2-3 million would be a prize money for provincial leagues.
She urged the youth to actively take part in it and said that the first trial event was being started from Lahore College for Women University.
