The provincial government has launched a Rs30 billion Punjab Rozgar Scheme under which soft loans will be offered to generate employment.
Chief Minister Sardar Usman Buzdar inaugurated the scheme at a ceremony held on Thursday.
Addressing the event, the chief minister highlighted that around 1.6 million people would benefit from the scheme. The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government had started taking practical steps to fulfil the promise of providing employment to people, he said.
“The scheme will make youth self-reliant and job providers. Youth will be provided loans on a priority basis and owners of small and medium enterprises (SMEs), as well as those economically suffering because of coronavirus would be able to resume economic activities.”
Buzdar announced that loans of Rs100,000 to Rs10 million would be given at minimal interest rates in collaboration with the Punjab Small Industries Corporation (PSIC) and the Bank of Punjab. Men, women, differently-abled people and transgender community members between 20 and 50 years of age would benefit from the scheme, he said.
Small loans will be provided for 339 sub-sectors of 23 sectors, including 26 sub-sectors of the textile industry, to boost business, trade and manufacturing in the province, he pointed out and added that the initiative would strengthen the cottage industry. He said people could also expand their businesses through the Punjab Rozgar Scheme.
The chief minister maintained the loan process had been made easy and the interested youth could submit their applications through the PSIC and Punjab Bank websites or Punjab Rozgar App.
He said the PTI was committed to making the youth economically self-reliant and the government was enabling them as job providers instead of job seekers. The government was transforming skills as an investment as it was the biggest social asset to make the youth prosperous, he further said.
Provincial Minister Mian Aslam Iqbal said previous rulers wasted billions of rupees on showcase projects, like metro train. The welfare of the poor was badly ignored as past rulers spent a whopping Rs250 billion on the Orange Line metro train but did not give a penny to the needy skilled workers, he alleged. Had this money been spent on giving skills training to the poor children, the country would have been different today, he said and claimed that welfare of common people was not the agenda of the previous government.
He said a project like metro transport did not help the poor earn a living as such projects were started for the sake of kickbacks and political gimmickry. The minister asserted that practical steps had been taken to expedite industrial development and the government was working for the betterment of the poor.
Finance Minister Hashim Jawan Bakht termed the youth as an asset and announced that they would be empowered to strengthen the national economy. “This scheme will be reviewed every month to make it better.”
He announced that banks would be motivated to give loans to the housing sector and hoped that the scheme would prove to be a game-changing initiative.
The PSIC managing director said a target of giving loans to 68,000 SMEs had been set. He highlighted that the soft loans would be given to educated and skilled youth on a priority basis. University graduates, skilled persons from the technical education and vocational training sector and artesian can get benefit from the scheme.
The processing fee of an application will be Rs2,000 and the time period for sanctioning of loan by the bank will not be more than 20 days. The tenure of loan will be from two to five years, including a six-month grace period. The scheme is aimed to give priority to the rehabilitation of the businesses affected by the Covid-19 pandemic. An online portal has also been created with the help of the Punjab Information Technology Board.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 2nd, 2020.
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