ISLAMABAD: President Dr Arif Alvi Thursday urged parliamentarians and media to create awareness among women as well as differently abled persons to avail government’s exclusive loan facilities to help them establish their own businesses and achieve financial independence.
The president, addressing a ceremony to distribute cheques among the successful applicants for business loans and certificates among the participants of free courses on skilled education, said that the business loan applications received by the banks from women was just five percent of the total amount they had specified for them.
Similarly, he said the government had announced to provide Rs 2,000 each a month to around two million differently abled persons but only 350,000 such people registered with the government to avail the facility.
First Lady Samina Alvi, Special Assistant to PM Usman Dar, President of First Women Bank Shahida Javed, Chairman NAVTTC Syed Javed Hassan, parliamentarians as well as the beneficiaries of the Kamyab Jawan Program attended the event held at Aiwan-e-Sadr.
The president, who earlier distributed cheques and certificates among the beneficiaries, repeatedly stressed the need for promotion of artificial intelligence and computing what he said could change country’s fate by creating immense employment opportunities for youth.
He said since last two three years, his initiative of artificial intelligence and computing and free courses on the subjects had created a vibrancy in the country which would ultimately open up new avenues for progress.
He said besides creating business opportunities, the Kamyab Jawan Program was also putting the youth on the course to achieve financial independence.
He said consequent to the government’s prudent policies especially for supporting the construction industry, the earnings of the labourers had been doubled while the textile industry was facing shortage of skilled labor.
He said ideally the skilled workforce should serve in the country; however they could work for foreign organizations until the intellectual buildings were established in the country to absorb those skilled workers.
Speaking high of National Vocational and Technical Training Commission (NAVTTC) for training the youth in multiple disciplines, the president called for opting the short cuts to equip the people with different skills and make them an earning hand.
He exemplified that China had steered around 800 million people out of poverty just by equipping them modern skill trainings who did not only earned sustenance for themselves but also created jobs for others.
The president also called for creating ease and facilitation for the women loan applicants as the banks were not yet used to facilitate the interest free loans or without any security.
He also underscored the need for establishing systems to guide the loan applicants to prepare the feasibility of their business idea, though he said the Kamyab Jawan Program’s website provided such guidelines in this regard.
He said a one window operation had also been started under Ehsaas Program to facilitate the applicants of business loans and other such schemes.
“There is need to put the women on course towards Kamyab Jawan Program. We have to remove the barriers. Whenever they (women) go to any bank, there should be someone to guide them for feasibility preparation and loan processing,” he urged.
