ISLAMABAD: Special Assistant to the Prime Minister (SAPM) on Youth Affairs Muhammad Usman Dar said on Friday that the government had a plan to offer half a million skill scholarships to young people under the ‘Skill for All’ (Hunarmand Pakistan) programme of the Kamyab Jawan Programme (KJP). Addressing the second batch of National Youth Council (NYC), he said the initiative was aimed at enabling the youth to get maximum lucrative job opportunities in the local and international markets. “So far, 170,000 youth have been trained in traditional and high-tech trades under the Skill Scholarship programme,” he said, adding the target was to take the number of training courses to half a million. The SAPM said the major focus would be given to high-tech trades as there were multiple trained youth who got well-paid jobs even before completion of their courses. He said it was the first time in the history of Pakistan that a government was focusing on skill development of youth. In the past, there was a government which spent over Rs 50 billion on laptop scheme for their personal promotion, he added while chiding the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) President and Opposition Leader in the National Assembly Shehbaz Sharif. Usman Dar said unlike the previous regimes, the present government was making durable investment in the youth instead of spending huge amounts of funds on the laptops. “We are spending money on young people to produce a skilled workforce. Therefore, an amount of Rs 70,000 to Rs 150,000 is being spent on each course [of Hunarmand Pakistan]. Highlighting the challenge of employability being faced by the government for the youth in the job market, he said promotion of entrepreneurship culture among youth was the most viable and sustainable solution to tackle this challenge. “Young potential entrepreneurs with lack of resources can benefit from Kamyab Jawan Loan Scheme by proposing a feasible business idea to establish their own startup.” Usman Dar stressed. “Become a job creator, rather a job seeker”, he remarked. On the occasion, he assured the NYC members of providing access to the power corridors of government at federal, provincial and local level. The initiative would enable the members to participate in decision making as the representative of Pakistani youth, he added. “It is the first merit based youth council at national level with its members selected purely on the basis of their achievements in the public sector.” Usman Dar said. The SAPM thanked the international partners including United Nations Populations Fund (UNFPA) and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) for their financial and technical support, and School of Leadership for making the engagement plan for the national youth council and making it a productive platform. Meanwhile, the SAPM chaired a meeting of National Youth Council (NYC) to decide future course of action. During the meeting, the members of NYC shared their plan of activities for the year 2021. The deliverables and timeline for NYC goals and objectives were discussed and concluded during the meeting whilst defining roles and responsibilities of each member of the council. It may be mentioned here that a gender-diverse second batch of the National Youth Council (NYC) with equal representation from each federating unit of the country was sworn in here the other day.