Kamyab Jawan Programme might create 50,000 jobs by year end, says Usman Dar

ISLAMABAD: Special Assistant to the Prime Minister (SAPM) on Youth Affairs Muhammad Usman Dar on Sunday said the Kamyab Jawan Programme (KJP) might help create 50,000 jobs by the end of 2020 through further disbursement of loans amounting to around Rs5 billion.

Usman Dar said that the total loan amount of Rs5 billion will be distributed among 10,000 registered Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) under the Youth Entrepreneurship Scheme.

He further informed that loans worth Rs1 billion have already been disbursed among 2,190 qualified entrepreneurs since the launch of Youth Entrepreneurship Scheme, while the executing banks have approved two tier financing of Rs3 billion for 7,592 eligible businesses.

Out of the total approved loans, evaluation of 5,402 businesses is still in process, Usman Dar added.

Bank of Khyber (BoK), Bank of Punjab (BoP) and National Bank of Pakistan (NBP), which deal with the Youth Entrepreneurship Scheme have sanctioned Rs4 billion soft loans for 28,859 SMEs, the SAPM told APP.

The SAPM said that under the Youth Entrepreneurship Scheme, the banks had initially selected 58,031 businesses for scrutiny. Out of the initial 58,031 businesses, 18,473 have been rejected while scrutiny of 10,699 businesses is still in process.

The Youth Entrepreneurship Scheme was launched under the banner of Kamyab Jawan Programme in October last year with a seed allocation of Rs100 billion.

Three tiers were introduced under the programme for disbursement of loans ranging from Rs100,000 to Rs25 million among the youth having workable business ideas. The third tier for a loan ranging from Rs10 million to Rs25 million was added after the expansion of the programme.

The SAPM said that more than one million applications were received under the Kamyab Jawan Programme, however, most of the applications lacked practical business ideas.

The SAPM urged the youth to sign up for the programme with proper preparation and submit practical business plans.

The government had expanded the soft-loan scheme last week in order to extend its benefits to the maximum number of young people across the country, Usman Dar said.

He said the mark-up rates on the initial two tiers has also been halved from 6 per cent and 8 per cent to 3 per cent and 4 per cent respectively. The lower mark-up rate would also be applicable on those who had already availed loans, he added.

“We have been successfully implementing the Hunarmand Pakistan (Skill for All) programme for promoting basic and technical skills among youth,” Usman Dar said.

He added that Rs10 billion had been allocated for the first phase of the country’s largest skill development programme. Along with traditional trades training in high-tech technologies is also being offered through the programme.

He also mentioned the National Youth Development Framework (NYDF) – a national policy which envisages empowerment of youth through education, engagement and employment.

The SAPM said that the National Youth Council and the Corona Relief Tiger Force are among the major initiatives of Prime Minister Imran Khan aimed at youth development.