Budgetary proposals: ‘Include youth in plans for next year’

Official at Chief Minister’s Secretariat says this year’s focus is on welfare and youth-oriented projects

LAHORE:

The government has directed all departments to pay special attention to projects for youth in their budgetary proposals for the next financial year, The Express Tribune has learnt.

Finance Department has written to all departments, instructing them to start working on budget formation for the fiscal year 2015-2016.

“Parliamentarians have also been asked to give their suggestions regarding development projects to be launched in their constituencies. They can give their recommendations to the Finance Department which will forward the requests to the relevant departments. This year’s focus is on welfare and youth-oriented projects,” an official at Chief Minister’s Secretariat told The Express Tribune while requesting anonymity.

“This is the first budget after the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf and Pakistan Awami Tehreek sit-ins. The Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz leadership is aware that mostly young people participated in the sit-ins. They want to win them over. The laptop scheme has been a success story, but everybody is being asked to brainstorm and come up with more innovative ideas to attract the youth,” a senior PML-N leader said.

“Every year government departments are asked at the end of January to start preparing suggestions for budget-making. What is new this time is that departments and parliamentarians are being asked to come up with new ideas to win over the youth,” he said.

Parliamentary Secretary Rana Arshad said the youth had always been a PML-N priority. “In May 2013 elections, a large number of youth voted for the PML-N. It is not due to the PTI that we are starting projects for the youth. Last year, we organised the youth festival from primary school to the university level. In 2008, we had started an Endowment Fund to provide scholarships to 100,000 deserving students,” he said.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 27^th, 2015.