Under the Parwaz Card program, interest-free financial assistance of up to Rs 300,000 for qualified youth
Maryam Nawaz, Chief Minister of Punjab. SCREENSHOT
LAHORE:
Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif inaugurated a ‘Parwaz Card’ initiative to provide financial support and employment opportunities to qualified youth.
Addressing graduates of technical training institutes, she said 250,000 youths had completed technical training, while over 114,000 had found employment, including 97,000 in Pakistan and 33,000 abroad. She also launched three initiatives – Creative Hands, Rah-e-Rozgar and a skill development portal – to strengthen the province’s skill ecosystem.
Under the Parwaz Card scheme, the Chief Minister announced interest-free financial assistance of up to Rs 300,000 for qualified youth, especially those seeking employment abroad, to help them avoid exploitation by agents.
She met with 90 students who had completed their training, asking about their skills and jobs. She expressed her joy at their success. including a mosque imam who had taken an electrician course. She also met with transgender students and assured them of their dignity, inclusion and state support.
Addressing graduates of institutions affiliated to the Punjab Skill Development and Entrepreneurship Department, she said the government wanted to invest every rupee of the provincial exchequer in the youth, adding that scholarships alone were not enough and the state was now guaranteeing training, market access and employment.
She said more than 200,000 youth in Punjab had gained access to better opportunities, while government teams had been sent to the Gulf region to explore job markets for Pakistani youth. She noted that skilled workers now earn up to $500 a month working from home after completing vocational training in areas such as tiling, welding, electrical wiring, IT and e-commerce.
