Khyber Pakhtunkhwa launches employment, skill development program

PESHAWAR: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government has launched a new program to provide employment opportunities and skill development to the youth of the province.

A total of Rs 11.5 billion will be allocated for this project, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Education Department said on Friday. Under the program, free training will be provided to 60,000 youth of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Moreover, 25,000 people will be given internships.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to provide interest-free loans for housing

Specifically, for the people of rural areas and merged districts, 42,000 young people will be given grants of up to Rs80,000, the education department said.

The education department data shows that 37,000 students have graduated from government technical institutions and 36,000 students have graduated from private technical institutions in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Out of these, 19,000 men and women will be included in the first phase of the program, the Education Department said.

So far, 806 people have been trained, while 312 applications have been received for grants, the provincial education department said.

HOUSING LOANS

Earlier this month, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government announced interest-free loans of up to Rs1.5 million for construction or renovation of houses. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Housing Department and Bank of Khyber signed the MoU under the Ehsaas Apna Ghar scheme, aimed at providing quality housing to low-income people. This scheme is said to cost Rs4 billion, with repayment plans spread over a seven-year schedule.

HEALTH UNITS

The government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government has also decided to solarize 195 health centers in four districts of the province, under the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Human Capital Investment Program (KP-HCIP) of the provincial health department. The total cost of the project is expected to be a little over Rs 23 billion.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to solarize 195 health centers

Initially, the project will be carried out in Peshawar, Nowshera, Swabi and Haripur, for 151 basic health units (BHUs), 25 rural health centers, 13 Category D hospitals and six Category C hospitals.

TAX COLLECTION

Yesterday, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Finance Advisor Muzzammil Aslam announced that the provincial tax revenue for November has grown 51 per cent. In a post on X, he said that last year, November’s revenue was Rs2,908 million, while this November, the tax revenue has reached 4,412 million.