Time to reverse decades old neglect of sports: Umar

Minister for Planning and Development Asad Umar announced initiating two sports projects under the Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP) in "all federating units of the country", on Thursday.

"Reviewed 2 new PSDP [Public Sector Development Programme] projects for sports under kamyab jawan program. A talent hunt scheme and a scheme to develop sports academies/high performance centers," Umar said on Twitter.

"Both will be done thru HEC [Higher Education Commission] and in all Federating units of the country. Time to reverse the decades old neglect of sports," he added.

On August 3, Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry informed the media that the federal cabinet had given approval for the grant of loans of Rs315 billion to the youth under the Kamyab Jawan Programme.

On May 25, Prime Minister Imran Khan had announced a whopping Rs100 billion start-up loans package for the youth to help them start their own businesses in the biggest ever incentive scheme for the young population in the country’s history.

The prime minister also announced 170,000 skills-education scholarships, out of which around 50,000 would be reserved for high-end skills such as the latest technology, including artificial intelligence and big data.

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Terming unemployment as a huge problem, Prime Minister Imran said in a special televised message for youth that the government would increase this allocation every year in order to help the youth become self-reliant in earning and businesses.

“The government’s this initiative to extend soft loans worth Rs100 billion through the Kamyab Jawan Programme will encourage the country’s youth to launch start-ups and businesses of their own,” Imran said.

He urged the youth to diverge their energies on learning skills in order to becoming self-reliant rather than desiring government jobs. “The government cannot afford more public [sector] jobs because the pension bill is already increasing the financial burden,” he added.

The PM stressed that private sector jobs, self-business, small and medium enterprises and start-ups are the solution to unemployment the world over. He hoped the youth would benefit from these two schemes and tap the immense opportunities in diverse fields.

The Kamyab Jawan Programme was launched by Prime Minister Imran Khan on October 17, 2019 with an aim to provide loans to the youth to set up their businesses and also given a set of educational and skill-development opportunities.

The programme is expected to benefit one million young people. The loans will be distributed on a priority basis in 45 underprivileged districts.