LAHORE, Feb 10 (APP):Punjab Chief Minister Muhammad Shehbaz
Sharif has said that the CM Self Employment Scheme of the
Punjab government is a revolutionary programme that is proving
helpful in bridging the gap between poverty, unemployment,
and the rich and the poor.
According to a DGPR handout issued here on Saturday, he
expressed these views at a ceremony held at Badshahi Masjid in
connection with the CM Self-Employment Scheme.
He said under this scheme, interest-free loans worth
Rs 40 billion had been distributed in 18 lakh needy families
in six years and 2.25 cror people had been benefited from the
loans. He added that the return of loans was 99.9 per cent and
today more than 60 crore rupees would be distributed
in 25,000 families.
He said 1.8 million families in the Punjab had been given
interest-free loans under the scheme due to which they were
able to earn a respectful leaving. He added, on the one hand,
there were great Pakistanis who had repaid the loans while, on
the other hand, there were very rich persons who had got written
off loans worth billions of rupees through approaches and
bribes despite having Mercedes cars, factories and lucrative
posts.
The CM said he saluted these great Pakistanis who had returned
loans and used them with honesty and sincerity.
He said in this ceremony being held in this mosque we all pray
that Allah Almighty give strength to governments, rulers,
politicians and the rich that they take step ahead and hold
hands of the poor.
He said the idea of this great programme came to my mind
when I had met Dr Amjad Saqib during my exile and at that time
Dictator Musharraf was ruling the country. He said I had prayed
that the PML-N will work on this unique and innovative idea if
it came to power so that millions of people can become
self-employed. He said this idea came into my mind in 2005 and
today is 2018, and I am satisfied and happy that Allah Almighty gave strength and
enabled me to give practical shape to this program.
The chief minister said under this programme these great
Pakistanis can get interest-free loans up to 50,000 rupees and
this program is running across the Punjab simultaneously.
He said the Punjab Educational Endowment Fund was also such
a historical measure through which resource-less students are getting higher education
and by the next two months the number of beneficiaries from this fund will increase to
three and a half lakh. He said under this programme thousands of girls and boys from poor
families have completed their education and now serving the nation after becoming
engineers, doctors, teachers and economies. He said talented students from
Balochistan, Azad Kashmir, KPK and Sindh have also been included in this programme. He said
this is that revolutionary programme which is transforming Pakistan into a welfare state dreamt
by Quaid-e-Azam and Allama Iqbal.
The chief minister said if Allah Almighty gave us chance again to serve the country, the program will be started in all federating units of Pakistan so that Pakistanis get respectable employments and become self-reliant and we will bury begging once and a for all. He said we have given Azad Kashmir an amount of Rs 1.5 billion from our funds this year so that welfare projects move forward there.
Provincial ministers Rana Sanaullah Khan, Malik Nadeem Kamran, Mujtaba Shujaur Rehman, Akhuwat Chief Dr Amjad Saqin and other people were also present.
