The Prime Minister’s youth development program, an umbrella project covering 15 programs, has provided an excellent opportunity to the young generation to excel in studies viz a viz choice professions and equip themselves with all necessary skills and expertise to compete at local and international markets. Launched with an estimated cost of Rs150 billion in all provinces of Pakistan, the Prime Minister’s youth development program started empowering the youth of Pakistan including girls’ students with modern and technical education besides providing them paid internship.
Besides other goal-oriented and pro-people’s projects and initiatives launched by the prime minister in the last one-year of his government, PM’s youth development program was among one of the major achievements of the present coalition government aimed at educational, economic and financial empowerment of youth irrespective of their political affiliation, caste and family background.
Ikhtair Wali Khan, PMLN KP spokesman and former member provincial assembly told APP on Thursday that despite the inherited tough economic and political challenges left by the PTI, disruption in global fuel and food supply line due to Russian-Ukrain war, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has successfully launched the landmark youth development and economic empowerment program under which scores of services including ‘Teleschool Pakistan App, Google for Education and Digital Continuous Professional Development’ were started.
The landmark package includes 60,000 paid internships, technical and vocational training to 100,000 youth, distribution of 100,000 laptops, provision of 5,000 scholarships for the students of Balochistan and erstwhile tribal areas. Besides around 1,000 PhD scholarships at top 100 universities in the United States and 75 scholarships at top 25 universities of the world, he said the establishment of 21 university campuses in remote districts and 250 sports complexes were also part of the package.
It envisaged youth peace and development student councils in 80 universities, 75 leadership awards, 500 innovation grants worth Rs5-20 million each, Rasta grants for research, 12 Seerat chairs, seven centres of excellence and uplift of 20 poorest districts.
