ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister’s Youth Programme is a remarkable initiative of the PML-N government for the socio-economic development of youth in a bid to combat the rising rate of unemployment in the country. According to a statement issued on Friday, the programme has a broad image of schemes to enable the youth and the poor and get increase the employment rate, economic empowerment, acquiring skills and access to IT. Programme also ensures on-the-job training for young graduates to improve the probability of getting a productive job. Prime Minister’s (PM) Youth Programme includes 6 schemes, which include PM’s Youth Business Loan Scheme, PM’s Interest Free Loan Scheme, PM’s Youth Skill Development Programme, PM’s (National) Programme for Provision of Laptops to Talented Students, PM’s Fee Reimbursement Scheme for Less Developed Areas, and PM’s Youth Training Scheme. Under PM’s Youth Business Loan Scheme, 17,547 loans, a total of Rs 17.6 billion, have been paid so far. The recovery rate is 90 per cent with 10 per cent NPL ratio. These are subsidised business loans at 6 per cent mark up for a period of 8 years, and are granted after satisfactory evaluation of borrower’s business feasibility by the bank. In the PM’s Interest Free Loan Scheme, more than 250,000 interest free loans, amounting to Rs 5.6 Billion, have been awarded to the poor people in 427 union councils of 44 districts across Pakistan. 62 per cent of the loan beneficiaries are female, and the recovery rate of the scheme is 99 per cent. So far, the PM’s Youth Skill Development Programme has trained 75,000 youth, both male and female. Training classes of another 25,000 trainees, under Phase III (Batch-II) commenced on 2 January 2017. 33 per cent of the total training slots are reserved for female trainees. Madaaris graduates and disabled youth are also catered to under this scheme. More than 182,000 laptops have been distributed among students of 97 HEC recognised universities across Pakistan under the PM’s (National) Programme for Provision of Laptops to Talented Students Phase-I & II. The distribution of remaining laptops will be completed by 15 January 2017. Moreover, the process of laptops’ delivery to universities under Phase-III of the program has been initiated, and HEC has planned to distribute another 100,000 laptops among eligible university students by the end of March 2017. HEC initiated procurement process for Phase-IV of the scheme simultaneously. It is worth mentioning that under CSR component of YLS Phase-I, HEC has established electronic classrooms and laundry facilities at IBA Sukkur and COMSATS Islamabad. In order to promote IT manufacturing industry, that would significantly contribute in country’s GDP, first time in the history of Pakistan, MS Haier Pakistan, the vendor of the scheme, has set up a state-of-the-art Laptop Assembly Plant under the scheme. The staff’s initial capacity was about 60at the plant, which will graduallybe increased. 150,000/200,000 laptops have been assembled locally at the plant under phase-II of the programme. Tuition fee of almost 150,000 students of less developed areas across Pakistan has been reimbursed under the PM’s Fee Reimbursement Scheme. Due to this valuable intervention, 100 per cent enrolment has increased in some universities of Balochistan. Under Phase-I of PM’s Youth Training Scheme, around 44,000 fresh graduates were paid Rs 12000 per monthfor a 12-month paid internship.Letters to another 21,000 interns will be issued shortly, as the verification of their degrees was currently under process.