PESHAWAR:
The Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (KP) government has taken a significant step towards empowering and providing employment opportunities to its youth by launching the distribution of interest-free loans under the ‘Ehsaas Nojawan Programme’.
A loan check distribution ceremony was held at the Chief Minister’s House in Peshawar on Tuesday, with Chief Minister Ali Amin Khan Gandapur as the chief guest.
Members of the provincial cabinet, including Syed Fakhar Jahan, Brigadier (retd) Muhammad Sajjad, Barrister Muhammad Ali Saif and Muzammil Aslam, along with officials from the Ministry of Youth Affairs and selected beneficiaries of the program, also attended at the event.
The “Ehsaas Nojawan Program” is a flagship initiative under the umbrella of the provincial government’s “Ihsas Initiatives” aimed at economically empowering the youth of the province by providing them interest-free loans to start their own businesses.
This three-year program, launched with an initial budget of Rs3 billion, has an allocation of Rs1.1 billion for the current financial year. This program consists of two parts. The first component of the program is being implemented in collaboration with the Bank of Khyber (BoK), through which interest-free loans worth one billion rupees are being provided. Under this component, groups of three to five people aged between 18 and 35 years are eligible for loans ranging from Rs1 million to Rs5 million.
A flexible repayment schedule spanning eight years has been designed, with the first 20 months constituting a grace period during which no repayment is required.
The second phase, in collaboration with Akhuwat Microfinance Bank, has a budget of Rs2 billion. This phase offers interest-free loans between Rs 100,000 and Rs 500,000 to people aged 18 to 40 years for small businesses.
Special quotas were reserved for women and people with disabilities.
Addressing the ceremony, the Chief Minister said that three other schemes under the Ehsaas initiative – Ehsaas Apna Ghar Scheme, Ehsaas Rozgar Scheme and Ehsaas Hunar Scheme – will also be launched very soon with allocation combined 15 billion rupees in the current budget.
The Chief Minister highlighted that the Ehsaas Nojawan program is a crucial step towards financial independence of the youth, in line with the vision of the founding chairman of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf.
The initiative aims to encourage young people not only to create employment opportunities for themselves, but also to generate employment for others.
He urged young people to prioritize entrepreneurship over job search, highlighting the immense growth potential of business ventures.
The provincial government, he assured, is committed to providing full support to young people with innovative business ideas.
Concluding his speech, Gandapur emphasized the importance of hard work and integrity, saying, “Honesty is the best strategy, and there is no substitute for hard work.”
