Prime Minister's Youth Programme

Prime Minister's Youth Programme
Prime Minister Youth Programme
Agency overview
Formed2013; 11 years ago (2013)
TypeYouth Affairs
JurisdictionGovernment of Pakistan
StatusActive
HeadquartersPrime Minister's Secretariat
MottoEmpower youth, Kamyab Jawan Kamyab Pakistan
Employees12
Annual budget150 billion[1]
Minister responsible
Websitepmyp.gov.pk

The Prime Minister's Youth Programme or Kamyab Jawan Program (Urdu: کامیاب یوتھ پروگرام), initiative launched by former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in 2013, and it ran from 2019 to 2022.[2] The program aimed to provide quality education and meaningful employment opportunities to the youth through integrated, sustainable initiatives. It offered government-subsidised business loans of up to 25 million rupees, divided into three tiers: the first tier for loans between 10,000 and 1 million rupees, the second tier for 1 million to 10 million, and the third for 10 million to 25 million rupees.[3]

In addition to loans, the program supported a skills scholarship initiative, a talent hunt for youth sports, and the establishment of a National Youth Council. However, in July 2022, the State Bank of Pakistan paused disbursements under the Kamyab Jawan Program.[4]

The programme was revived by the Shehbaz Sharif government at the end of the year.[5][6]

History

The Prime Minister's Youth Programme is a special initiative launched by the Pakistani government in 2013 - 2018. The Youth Programme comprised several schemes including Prime Minister's Interest-Free Loan Scheme, Prime Minister's Youth Business Loans, Prime Minister's Youth Training Scheme, Prime Minister's Youth Skills Development Scheme, Prime Minister's Scheme for Provision of Laptops and Prime Minister's Scheme for Reimbursement of Fee of Students from the Less Developed Areas. It was headed by Maryam Nawaz Sharif.[7] The total worth of PKR 20 billion was to be spread over 5 years.[8][9]

On 14 May 2014, the government approved 3.5 billion for interest-free loans up to Rs 50,000 would be provided to 1 million people across the country. Half of the beneficiaries would be women. The loans would be disbursed through Pakistan Poverty Alleviation Fund (PPAF) and each federating unit will get its share as per the NFC Award, with a primary focus on rural areas. Proper loan centers and business support centers were to be set up across the country.[10][11][12] The Prime Minister's Programme for the Provision of Laptops to Talented Students (Prime Minister's Laptop Scheme was launched on May 23, 2014.[13][14][15]

The Prime Minister Laptop Scheme and other schemes were later abolished by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (Pakistan Movement for Justice) government as of 2018.[16]

Official logo used for Kamyab Jawan Program initiative

The Prime Minister's Youth Programme was renamed to the Kamyab Jawan Program by the Imran Khan ministry in September 2019[17] and, after a pause in disbursements from July 2022,[4] was renamed back by the Shehbaz Sharif ministry in December 2022.[5][6] The Prime Minister's University Sports Olympiad was launched on 20 November 2024.

References

  1. ^ "15 mega initiatives included: Rs150bn 'PM's Youth Package' announced". Business Recorder (newspaper). 22 March 2023. Retrieved 9 May 2023.
  2. ^ "Nawaz unveils Rs 20bln youth uplift package". 21 September 2013.
  3. ^ "Kamyab Jawan". Bank of Punjab.
  4. ^ a b "Miftah says reshaping MPMG scheme by next week". The News.
  5. ^ a b "PMYP: Govt announces revival of various schemes". Business Recorder. 15 December 2022. Retrieved 27 April 2023.
  6. ^ a b Iqbal, Shahid (13 December 2022). "Agriculture, microfinance added to youth loan scheme". Dawn.com. Retrieved 27 April 2023.
  7. ^ "Maryam Nawaz appointed chairperson of PM's Youth Programme". The Express Tribune. 22 November 2013. Archived from the original on 25 May 2014. Retrieved 25 May 2014.
  8. ^ "Nawaz unveils Rs 20bln youth uplift package". DAWN.COM. 21 September 2013. Archived from the original on 25 May 2014. Retrieved 25 May 2014.
  9. ^ "Fee Reimbursement Scheme to ensure human, social development: Maryam". 23 May 2014. Archived from the original on 25 May 2014. Retrieved 25 May 2014.
  10. ^ "PM approves Rs 3.5 billion interest-free loan scheme". Archived from the original on 16 May 2014. Retrieved 25 May 2014.
  11. ^ "Paperresult.com". www.paperresult.com. Archived from the original on 12 May 2016. Retrieved 2 February 2016.
  12. ^ "Official Site". Archived from the original on 27 May 2014. Retrieved 25 May 2014.
  13. ^ "Laptops under PM's Scheme: HEC likely to receive first shipment by May 28". Archived from the original on 25 May 2014. Retrieved 25 May 2014.
  14. ^ "The News International: Latest News Breaking, Pakistan News". www.thenews.com.pk. Archived from the original on 11 October 2017. Retrieved 6 September 2019.
  15. ^ Aziz, Hadi (1 May 2014). "PM Youth Business Loans Scheme enters into second phase in Pakistan". Archived from the original on 14 July 2020. Retrieved 12 July 2020.
  16. ^ "Imran Khan's govt decides to abolish PM's laptop, other schemes". www.thenews.com.pk. Archived from the original on 27 March 2019. Retrieved 6 September 2019.
  17. ^ "PMYAP renames SME scheme as 'Kamyab Jawan Youth Entrepreneurship Scheme'". www.radio.gov.pk.