Youth Festival might be brought forward

It was initially scheduled for August, but will now be held in July.

LAHORE:

Preparations to hold the Punjab Youth Festival earlier than scheduled are underway, The Express Tribune has learnt.

After announcing the Punjab Youth Policy 2012 on June 6, Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif had directed the Department of Youth Affairs to hold the festival before August.

Three stalls were set up at the PYP launch ceremony to provide information on the festival, with hundreds of students registered for the festival.

Haroon Ahmed Khan, the secretary for Department of Youth Affairs, Sports, Tourism and Archaeology, told The Tribune that the CM had instructed the department to hold the festival early. Khan said that the festival was unlikely to be held this month since the department would be busy with audits in June.

“It was scheduled to be held on August 25. We are now hoping to hold it in July,” he said.

Khan said that the government aimed at addressing the needs of youth (from 15 to 29 years of age).

He said that the festival would include activities to improve their skill sets.

He said that the government had allocated two per cent of the year’s district budgets for the festival to allow youth from across the province to participate.

“While sports play a major role in the development of youth, the government wants to support other activities too,” he said.

Details about the Punjab Youth Festival are yet to be announced.

Earlier in the week, Rana Mashood Ahmad, head of the CM’s Youth Mobilization Committee and deputy speaker of the Punjab Assembly, said that the government hoped to host a national festival after the Punjab Youth Festival.

The government also hopes to organise an International Sports Festival in November with participation from over 20 countries.

Published In The Express Tribune, June 8^th, 2012.