PM orders strategy for youth to get equitable job access

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday directed the relevant authorities to prepare a comprehensive strategy with respect to provision of employment opportunities to the youth of the country on equal basis.

Calling the youth the assets of Pakistan, the prime minister said the country’s development was linked with their welfare and progress.

Chairing a meeting regarding the Prime Minister’s Youth Programme at the PM House, he said that with their immense talent the youth could change the fate of the country if they were provided with the required resources.

The prime minister was of the view that provision of employment opportunities to the youth was the government’s top priority, the official news agency reported.

He said all the training programmes at the National Vocational and Technical Training Commission (NVTTC) should be focused on creating job opportunities for the students.

He directed to conduct a detailed survey of job market and then accordingly start the skill training programmes.

During the meeting, it was informed that under the PM Laptop Scheme, some 600,000 laptops had so far been delivered to the students.

Under this scheme, the government would provide additional 100,000 laptops during current year.

The meeting was informed that 64 percent of the students who got training under the Youth Skills Development Programme managed to get respectable jobs during the previous three years.

It was told that the government funded 100 startups under its PM National Innovation Award which were being placed in designated incubation centres across the country.

Similarly, the prime minister was informed that 10 international standard sports academies and a biomechanical laboratory would start functioning this year under the PM Youth Sports League.

Likewise, under the Prime Minister Green Youth Program, 268 universities across the country would be targeted for training youth on climate change prevention and eco-innovation.

“Preparation of National Youth Employment Policy 2024 is in the final stages,” the meeting was told.

The focus of the policy would be to create decent employment opportunities for the youth and increase the proportion of women in the workforce.

Similarly, it was told that the PM Digital Hub was also being prepared which would be a one-window operation dashboard.

The meeting was attended by Federal Minister for Economic Affairs Ahad Khan Cheema, Information Minister Attaullah Tarar, Minister of State for Information Technology & Telecom Shaza Fatima Khawaja, Chairman PM Youth Programme Rana Mashhood, Coordinator to PM Rana Ihsan Afzal and other relevant high officials.