Special Assistant to the Prime Minister for Youth Affairs Shaza Fatima Khawaja has said that the work on Prime Minister’s Laptop Scheme is in progress, under which free laptops will be distributed among 100,000 youth of government universities and colleges soon. Under the scheme, high quality laptops will be provided to the youth purely on merit, she said while talking to APP on Monday. “These laptops will be provided to all PhD and post graduate students while the top performers in undergraduate programs will also be included in the scheme” she informed. She said that the quota for the students of Balochistan has been doubled in the laptop scheme, while the quota has also been allocated for the disabled students, adding, 50 percent quota has been allocated for women in scheme. As many as 100,000 youth, she said, will be trained in skills and information technology through Prime Minister Skilled Programme, she remarked. She said that the Prime Minister Youth Program was started by the Pakistan Muslim League (N) government in 2013, which included 6 steps to empower the youth. She rejected the impression of closing the Prime Minister Youth Loan Scheme terming it as wrong, and added, the restructuring of this program has been done under which the loan limit has been revised. “Now the youth will be provided interest-free loans up to Rs500,000, while loans from Rs500,000 to 7500,000 will be provided on easy terms” she told APP. She said that every year 20 lakh graduates come to the market after completing their education, and underlined the dire need to provide skills education to these youth as per market needs. She also informed that the work on forming the National Youth Employment Policy under the Prime Minister’s Youth Program is going on. She said that the former government had closed the National Internship Program. The special assistant said that traditional and information technology training will be provided to the youth under the skilled program. Digital Pakistan Task Force has been formed for the promotion of information technology in the country, she added. “Our target is to take IT exports to 15 billion dollars” she remarked, adding, the youth working as freelancers are playing an important role in the country’s economy. She said that One lakh youth will be trained in technical skills under the Prime Minister Skilled Pakistan programme. Through this program the youth will be given free training in traditional and high-tech sectors, she said. She underlined the need to create awareness among the youth about acquiring technical skills. She also hinted out to introduce technology programs at the intermediate and matric level. Shaza said that the age of 5 crore youth in our country is between 15 to 25 years and making these youth skilled is our first priority. She went on saying that the sports talent hunt program will continue. The country can be taken on the path of development only through the continuity of the policies, she concluded.