PESHAWAR: Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Youth Affairs Usman Dar on Thursday inaugurated Kamyab Jawan Sports Drive Inter-University Men Badminton Championship being played under the aegis of Directorate of Sports University of Peshawar here at Campus Indoor Hall. Speaking at the inauguration ceremony, Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Youth Affairs, Usman Dar said youth of the country including Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, were being provided opportunities to move forward. He said the best platform through Kamyab Jawan Program had been provided to the youth, adding, they were working under the vision of the Prime Minister of Pakistan Imran Khan to help youth in different sectors. Taking forward the vision of Prime Minister Imran Khan, steps were being taken for the development of the country and the nation. Loans up to Rs. three billion had been distributed among the youth for establishment of their own business. At the same time, a series of ‘Volleyball Academy’ under the successful youth program at the University of Peshawar was being set up besides ‘Green Clubs’. Kamyab Jawan Sports Drive Program was the largest sports program in the country’s history, Usman Dar said, adding, more than 10,000 skill scholarships had been awarded to youth. He said, Green clubs and Kamyab Jawan Sports Drive were being set up at the University of Peshawar. Dar said, “We have included youth in every program and the Youths are not being rewarded on the basis of performance,” he added. He said in past, such facilities had been linked with party affiliation but now the program was for all without any party affiliation according to the vision of the Prime Minister. “We will not run this program on political grounds,” Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Youth Affairs Usman Dar said. He added that for the first time in the country’s history Kamyab Jawan Sports Drive Program and Higher Education Commission in collaboration four new programs worth four billion rupees to engage youth in co-curricular and sports activities. Kamyab Jawan Sports Drive was one of the mega projects in the first phase while the project would provide an opportunity to the talented youth for displaying their skills at the international level in 12 sports including hockey, cricket, football, handball, wrestling, weightlifting, squash, volleyball, skiing, judo, boxing and athletics. The sports competitions will be held all across the country including all the four provinces, Gilgit Baltistan and Azad Jammu and Kashmir and almost one million youth will go through a process of selection, Usman Dar said. Vice Chancellor University of Peshawar Prof. Dr. Muhammad Idrees, Director General Pakistan Sports Board Col (retd) Asif Zaman, Director General Higher Education Commission, Javed Memon and Secretary Higher Education Daud Khan also spoke and highlighted the usefulness of the Kamyab Jawan Program. A total of 111 universities teams participated in the Badminton Championship in eight different zones held across Pakistan and now out of 111 teams 16 teams qualified for the final round, being hosted by the UoP. Head of the Kamyab Jawan Sports Drive Miss Anila, DG Pakistan Sports Board Col (retd) Asif Zaman, DG HEC Engineer Javed Memon, Former British Squash Champion Qamar Zaman, VC University of Peshawar Prof Dr Muhammad Idrees, Secretary HED Daud Khan, DG Sports KP Khalid Khan, DG Sports University of Peshawar Bahre Karam, Syed Azhar Ali Shah, President Pakistan Cycling Federation, Nisar Ahmed, President KP Cycling Association, Director Sports and FIFA Referee Muhammad Ali, Assistant Registerer UoP Noorzada, Director Sports Islamia College University Ali Hoti, Director Sports Abdul Wali Khan University Farooq Hussain, International Handball Player Sami Marwat, Director Sports Government College Peshawar Arshad Hussain and other personalities were also present. University badminton teams qualified for the final round including host University of Peshawar,University of Punjab Lahore, Quaid-e-Azam University Islamabad, Balochistan University of Information Technology, Abdul Wali Khan University Mardan, Quaid-e-Azam University of Engineering Sciences and Technology Nawabshah and University of Bannu, Superior University Lahore, Government College University Lahore, University of Swat, Government College University Faisalabad, National University of Modern Languages(Namal, Islamabad), Institute of Business Management Karachi, University of Lahore and University of Central Punjab Lahore. The competition will continue till February 19. The team of University of Punjab Lahore is defending the title.