The Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) has taken a step forward to empower the youth in its second year in government. Prime Minister Imran Khan launched the first phase of “Kamyab Jawan Programme” under which loans amounting to Rs100 billion will be disbursed among the youth coming up with innovative business ideas. The scheme also aims at revitalising women’s participation in the business sector as Rs25 billion of the amount has been allocated for them. Under the scheme, loans of up to Rs100,000 will be interest-free and youth from 45 marked districts will be eligible. The other two categories include loans of up to Rs500,000 and Rs5 million for the youth of the country. Other than the loan scheme, the prime minister unveiled his government’s focus on education in artificial intelligence, for which Rs10 billion has been allocated for the establishment of smart tactical laboratories. 500 such skill laboratories will be set up in seminaries so they become part of the mainstream skilled force. At the launch, the prime minister kept reminding the audience about his signature promise: merit. He said more than once that the loans would be awarded strictly on merit, not favouritism. “Merit is the most important thing for any nation to prosper,” he stressed. The Rs100 billion youth loan scheme can be a game-changer if executed as per merit. The previous government’s similar scheme for the youth also offers some lessons to the managers of the fresh scheme. It started with much fanfare and an ambitious target of 100 million people but ended up facilitating only 17,861 youths. One of the factors that made the scheme a flop were lots of strings attached and seed money requirement. The programme attracted political rebuke when Maryam Nawaz was made its figurehead. The politicisation of the programme invoked a judicial order sending Ms Sharif home and jeopardising the whole initiative. Learning lessons from the previous examples, the prime minister should keep the programme apolitical and easy to implement. Soft loans must reach the right hands to flourish the culture of entrepreneurship. An army of young entrepreneurs can bring about a revolution. In this regard, incubation centres working in the Lahore University of Management Sciences and the Punjab Information Technology Board have produced a number of successful IT ventures. A recent announcement by Science and Technology Minister Fawad Chaudhry is very promising. He said that his ministry would give 100 percent funding to progressive ideas. The full potential of the online world remains untapped because of no technical and financial mentoring of the tech-savvy youth. Of course, the future belongs to entrepreneurs. *