KARACHI, Dec 15: A fair number of federal and provincial government departments and trading and employers’ organisations have expressed their commitment to pool resources to create jobs and internships for the fast swelling ranks of the jobless youths in the metropolis, it emerged on Sunday.

Several government departments and trading bodies have rolled in and put forth proposals and projects in this connection since the establishment of a placement bureau in the office of the commissioner of Karachi, said an official.

Officials said the regional office of the Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) had asked the bureau officials to furnish a list of willing entrepreneurs fulfilling economic criteria.

The BISP would include the list in its future survey programme for providing support to the would-be businessmen. Besides, the BISP would also consider support for internships and jobs for the youth, said the officials.

BISP officials said they were prepared to share the data of those who had not been self employed so far. A survey for the needy persons who fell in this category would be carried out, they said.

Similarly, provincial sports and youth affairs department was keen to consider a proposal put forward by the city administration to start internship programme for the youth, they said.

The officials of the youth affairs department agreed to report the activity for youth promotion and development to the bureau. In a recent meeting with Karachi commissioner Shoaib Ahmed Siddiqui, labour department and directorate of industries pledged to look for voluntary arrangements in industries and factories for generation of internships and jobs.

A director of Pakistan Baitul Mal told the officials concerned at the meeting that he had sent a letter to his head office about job creation, internship programme for youth, productive utilisation (of funds) and any other relief Pakistan Baitul Mal schemes could provide to the jobless.

He said that any proposals for job creation and internship sent to him would be forwarded to the top hierarchy for approval.

Officials in the Benazir Bhutto Shaheed Youth Development Programme (BBSYDP) said they had completed training programme for the youth through public and private sectors. They said that 30pc of their trainees in private sector were required to be absorbed in the job market but there were many who had still got no jobs.

Officials said private industries had the potential for internship training or creation of jobs, yet because of complacency on part of industries department, the number of young skilled workers failed to get jobs.

Realising the fact that it was the employer who could generate jobs and absorb the unemployed youth, officials in the bureau liaised with the Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI) to complete the triangle involving workers, the bureau and the employer.

“In a meeting with all stakeholders, it was decided that applications for internships and jobs would also be forwarded to a nominee of the FPCCI for consideration in accordance with their existing system and needs of their members,” said an official.

Sources said that FPCCI’s standing committee on science, technology and technical education has designed framework for the bureau, which has been formalised now.

An FPCCI official told the authorities that youths were finding it hard to get jobs it was therefore required to also create income generation opportunities for them.

“We are sincerely busy in making efforts for accomplishing the task and we hope a sizeable number of the jobless youth will benefit through the bureau by the end of this year,” said an official.

Besides the FPCCI, the officials said, they had got in contact with the Workers Employers Bilateral Council of Pakistan (WEBCOP) and Employers Federation of Pakistan (EFP). Both the organisations have agreed that they will look up the list and select appropriate trainees for the employers concerned.

The EFP agreed to take employers on board and also to sensitize, activate and energise the departments concerned in public and private sector for youth training, said an official.