LAHORE: Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz on Wednesday inaugurated a flagship youth empowerment initiative – Parwaz Card – aimed at providing financial support and employment opportunities to the skilled youth.

Addressing the graduates of technical training institutes, the chief minister said that 250,000 young people have completed technical training, while over 114,000 of them have secured employment, including 97,000 within Pakistan and 33,000 abroad.

She also launched three complementary initiatives – Creative Hands, Rah-e-Rozgar and Skill Development Portal – to strengthen the province’s skills ecosystem.

Under the Parwaz Card programme, the CM announced interest-free financial assistance of up to Rs300,000 for the skilled youths, particularly those seeking overseas employment, to help them avoid exploitation by agents.

On the occasion, she met 90 students who had completed technical training in various trades and inquired about their skills and employment status. She expressed happiness over their success stories and appreciated the students excelling in multiple disciplines, including a prayer leader of a mosque, who also completed an electrician’s course.

The CM also met transgender students and assured them of dignity, inclusion and state support.

Addressing the graduates of the institutions affiliated with the Punjab Skills Development and Entrepreneurship Department, she said the government wanted to invest every single rupee of the provincial treasury in the youth, adding that scholarships alone were not enough and that the state was now ensuring training, market access and employment for them.

She said more than 200,000 young people across Punjab had gained access to improved opportunities, while the government teams had been sent to the Gulf region to explore job markets for the Pakistani youth.

She said that skilled workers were now earning up to $500 per month after completing vocational training in fields such as tile fixing, welding, electrical wiring, IT and e-commerce.

Highlighting the future-oriented reforms, the chief minister said artificial intelligence (AI) education had been made mandatory in schools, adding that she had attended an AI training session with provincial ministers — a first for any chief minister. “In the age of AI, every decision must be knowledge-based,” she said.

The CM reiterated her vision of transforming Punjab’s workforce from low-paid labour to a highly-skilled and globally competitive asset, stating that Pakistan must move from “brain drain to brain gain”.

She said the Parwaz Card would support every skilled youth going abroad with financial assistance of up to Rs300,000.

Published in Dawn, January 29th, 2026