PESHAWAR: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ali Amin Khan Gandapur on Wednesday directed the departments concerned to take full ownership of different schemes aimed at youth uplift.

He ordered formation of special teams at the departmental level to further improve the implementation of Ehsaas Apna Ghar, Ehsaas Nojawan, Ehsaas Hunar, and Ehsaas Rozgar schemes launched under the Ehsaas Umbrella programme.

He issued the directions while chairing a meeting here on Wednesday, according to a statement issued from the chief minister’s secretariat.

Mr Gandapur directed the departments concerned to ensure timely execution of their respective programmes as per the stipulated timelines and accelerate the process of loan disbursement under these initiatives.

Orders promotion of these programmes through social media to benefit maximum number of people

“Any delay in implementation of these schemes will not be tolerated. The programmes should be extensively promoted through social media so that maximum people can benefit from them,” the statement quoted Mr Gandapur as saying.

The chief minister directed that all districts be allocated quotas in proportion to their population, and the inclusion of women, persons with disabilities, youth, and the transgender community in these programmes be ensured.

Relevant officials informed the meeting that two different components of the Ehsaas Nojawan initiative were launched with a cost of Rs3 billion, and were being implemented through the Bank of Khyber. Under the programme, a total of 9,976 loan applications were filed, and so far, Rs110 million were distributed among 47 youth clusters, while 120 cases were under scrutiny.

The meeting was informed that the second component of the Ehsaas Nojawan initiative was launched in collaboration with Akhuwat at a cost of Rs2 billion, and Rs200 million were disbursed so far, benefitting 1,390 deserving individuals with interest-free loans from various districts.

“The process of providing interest-free loans to an additional 2,600 applicants is underway,” the meeting was told.

Mr Gandapur directed that another Rs200 million be released immediately for the programme.

Similarly, it was also informed that 14,500 applications were received from different districts and were currently under assessment under the Ehsaas Apna Ghar programme.

“In addition, an online portal has been launched for receiving applications under the Ehsaas Hunar initiative, for which Rs200 million have been released. The Ehsaas Rozgar scheme is also being launched at a cost of Rs4 billion,” the statement said.

Another statement issued from the chief minister’s secretariat said Mr Gandapur also chaired the second meeting of the committee constituted to oversee the provincial government’s flagship project ‘Solarisation of Public Buildings and Private Houses’, which decided in principle to carry out the solarisation of public buildings through energy services companies.

Relevant authorities were directed to prepare a viable financial model to ensure the sustainable execution of solarisation of government buildings project.

Mr Gandapur directed relevant authorities to initiate physical work on the project by May 1 and that all necessary preparations for the solarisation of public buildings be completed within two months.

He also instructed that a project for the installation of solar streetlights in divisional headquarters, to be carried out through energy services companies, be initiated.

Published in Dawn, April 17th, 2025