Second Edition Of KP Youth Directorate-Lahore University Of Management Sciences Impact Challenge Program Completed

The second edition of the Directorate of Youth KP and Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS) Impact Challenge Program to highlight the valuable ideas and skills of the youth of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa completed here on Saturday with ideas of 130 youth short-listed during a daylong presentations.

PESHAWAR, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 14th Jul, 2018 ) :The second edition of the Directorate of Youth KP and Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS) Impact Challenge Program to highlight the valuable ideas and skills of the youth of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa completed here on Saturday with ideas of 130 youth short-listed during a daylong presentations.

Director General Youth Asfandiyar Khan Khattak was the chief guest on the occasion with initially 1100 youth, both male and female had made their presentations in front of a bunch of youth turned up from across Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and out of 1100, a total of 130 youth were short-listed for giving interest free loan with no return so that they could developed their respective ideas and skills in the shape of small businesses.

Speaking on this occasion, Asfandyar Khan Khattak said Khyber Pakhtunkhwa was the first govt to launch such an Impact Challenge Program with the support of LUMS to overcome the soaring problems of unemployment and poverty by fostering micro scale enterprising and income generating activities and ideas to be completed through soft interest free loans for socio-economic development in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

He said, in the wake of the current situation of energy shortage in the province particularly and in the country overall, the scheme was aimed to provide substantial opportunities to the private sector for investment and industrial development in the sector of Solar Panels productions.

He said the aim and objective of the program was to promote the development of industrial infrastructure in war battered and insurgency plagued province of KP and to encourage public-private partnership to revitalize and expand the industrial base of the province that would help channelizing energies toward prosperity and economic wellbeing.

The financial support (total of Rs. 1.00 billion) had been envisioned in different fields.

He said Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government was the first to launch an interest-free loan scheme for the skilled youth a year ago and now the second edition had also been completed with a seed money of Rs.120 million allocated for this purpose.

The government, he said, had established a youth challenge fund through which youth would be able to materialize their ideas through Impact Challenge Program.

He said the loans would be distributed among the skilled youth through a transparent process.

Regarding transparency in disbursement of loans, khattak said a fair mechanism had already been developed for the second successive year.

He said the loans would be distributed among the skilled youth in a transparent and fair manner. "There would be no political interference in the scheme. The loans would be disbursed on first-come first-serve basis and the borrowers would be required to return the money within three years," he added.

He said after the successful ideas, more such loans would be given in this connection. Each of the youth would get Rs. 2 million on the bases of no return.

He said in the first phase they have given Rs. 2 million to 43 youth and similarly such grant would be given to top 50 youth. All the process in this connection would be completed online and a penal of judgessupported by highlight qualified people would asses such ideas before accepting the Names. He urged upon the youth to come up with new ideas so that they could be able to establish their own business to control unemployment.