Empowering youth — a way forward to prosperity

Talented youth and ample prospering opportunities for them provide a basis for any nation’s prosperity and the welfare of its people especially in a country like Pakistan where youth forms a bulk of the populace. Since Nature has bestowed mankind with magnificent bounties like wisdom, courage and aspiration to conquer the universe, prudent leaderships across the globe fully employ these capabilities of their youth. But when the leadership is self-centred thriving on a populous agenda, it detracts them from the actual path leaving them clueless about their future. The last PTI government provides a glaring example of this phenomenon as its cosmetic youth welfare programs could not provide the desired benefit. Contrarily, the present government embarked on a historic initiative of reviving the Prime Minister’s Youth Business and Agriculture Loan scheme wherein youth, transgender and special persons aged between 21-45 years will be able to apply for loans of up to Rs 7.5 million from 15 designated Commercial, Islamic and SME banks to set up their own businesses with allocating 25% quota for women. “Through youth and agriculture loan program, the government aims to reduce unemployment by providing financial assistance and guidance to talented Pakistanis,” stated Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Youth Affairs, Shaza Fatima Khawaja. Telling about the implementation of this program, she said, since Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif inaugurated this loan scheme on January 24, 2023, an amount of Rs 22 billion had been disbursed so far among the youth. “The agriculture-based loan would help youth benefit from innovation and the latest technology used agriculture sector to bring it at par with international standards,” Shaza Fatima Khawaja explained. Informing about another initiative of youth empowerment, she mentioned the Premier’s announcement to provide laptops to talented students under PM’s Laptop Scheme (Phase-III). “We will be providing 100,000 high-quality latest laptops to talented students studying in public sector universities across the country purely on merit.” She said the government has allocated Rs 10 billion for this scheme in budget 2023-24 and students of all degree programs including BS (16 Years), MS/MPhil (18 Years) and PhD can benefit from this scheme. Laptops’ share will be calculated on an enrollment basis in each degree program as she also mentioned the distribution of half a million laptops by the PML-N government during its 2013-2018 tenure to equip qualified youth with the latest techniques. According to Finance Minister Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar, in addition to laptop scheme, the government has also allocated Rs five billion under the Prime Minister Youth Skills Program (PMYSP) to train a force of skilled workers who would not only be able to earn a respectable living but also contribute to national progress. These programs are hoped to provide youth opportunities to employ themselves as well as lessen jobs pressure in state-owned institutions. “Such initiatives are a blessing for us as hundred of thousands qualified people were unable to get jobs in desired fields,” said Salman Ali, who has been looking for a job after completing his Mechanical Engineering degree. “We hope, this would enable people like me to earn a dignified livelihood besides promoting entrepreneur culture in the country,” he added. For Khalid Anwar, an agriculture expert, youth empowerment schemes would mould the interest of youth towards the agriculture sector. “Our agriculture sector has a lot of potential and such initiatives will turn things around in terms of enhanced productivity and addressing food security issues.” Arifa Fatima, who is already running a stitching business said Pakistani youth have vast entrepreneurial potential and the provision of business loans on simple terms and with lesser markup would encourage them and help start new businesses. “It was my long-cherished desire to expand my business but could not due to lack of finances. But, now I have decided to avail this opportunity to expand my business,” she added. For Haris Kamal who is a differently abled person, the provision of loans to youth with a special focus on persons with disabilities will ensure their constructive role in the economic development, making them productive citizens. Meanwhile, in line with Vision-2025 and National Skill Strategy, the government is taking several other youth development initiatives by allocating a hefty amount in its 2023-24 budget. Under the Rs. 4828.05 million Prime Minister ‘Ba-Ikhtiar Naujawan’ Internship Initiative, 40,000 youth will be offered paid internships of Rs.25,000 per month for a period of 6 months. The selected interns will be placed on positions relevant to their skills and job function in host organizations of public, private and other development sectors. The government would also establish two Excellence Hubs in the Field of Renewable Energy in Punjab Province at a cost of Rs. 1117.402 million including the grant of Rs. 844.344 million from KFW German Cooperation. Similar Excellence Hubs would also be established in KPK at a cost of Rs. 740.70 million. The program will offer training based on Solar PV and Micro Hydro Power (MHP) sector value chain besides serving as a center of excellence on renewable energy-related trades. Since the government is doing its bit for youth empowerment, the young people must also fully benefit from this scheme to secure a better future for themselves and the country.