Lahore: With a population of 8.35 million and 3.8% minorities, Pakistan is the poorest of the poor, as equal opportunities in economic activities are denied. The fact is that the Punjab Vocational Training Council (PVTC) has imparted skills training to more than 800,000 poor children in 22 years, but given the large poor population in Pakistan, this will not be big news. ۔ But none of the children were from minorities living in Pakistan.
It reflects the attitude of our society towards minorities.
It was only after this realization that the Punjab government launched a special project for the United Nations last year to provide training to 1,000 non-Muslim youth through a special grant.
It is said that philanthropic activities in Pakistan take care of most of the poor in the country, but most of the money in this regard comes from zakat from which even every Muslim pays nominal wealth (jewelry or property). At 2.5% of the price, poor Muslims are better served than poor minorities.
The fact is that the entire population living in poverty lacks access to resources and has no voice in society. Still, governments in Pakistan launch programs for the betterment of the poor, primarily through zakat.
Zakat funds are spent only on Muslims, who make up 96.2% of the total population. The annual Zakat collection through banks in Pakistan is about Rs. 9 and a half billion, out of which Rs. The money is distributed to provide free services to the deserving poor and welfare schemes.
The Punjab Vocational Training Council was established in 1998 with funds provided by the Punjab Bait-ul-Mal to provide free skill training to poor children. Zakat through this annual grant to the treasury. Subject to total reserves of Only Muslim youth could avail this facility.
In 22 years, PVTC has trained more than 800,000 Muslim youth, 80% of whom are employed or self-employed. It could not admit any non-Muslims, as the fund is for Muslims only.
It was PVTC. Thus, each year it helped improve the lives of about 28,000 poor Muslim youth, but minorities remained deprived.
One has to acknowledge that after a long delay, some awareness was felt about the injustice done to the minorities and the Punjab Vocational Training Council has provided a special grant of Rs. Project completed.
The initiative was taken to provide socio-economic empowerment of minorities with demand-based skills training in collaboration with industry.
The training was conducted under the Cooperative Vocational Training Mode, which included leading national industries for on-site training of industrialists.
Out of Rs. 100 million given for the project, Rs. 96 million was allocated for implementation of the training. Out of the remaining Rs. 4 lakhs, two per cent was given to those who have successfully passed and given them Rs. 500,000,500,000, Rs. A grant of up to Rs.
Of the 1,000 young people selected, 693 were women, while the remaining 307 were men. Each training received a stipend of 2,000 / month and was provided with free uniforms, training manuals, and lab materials.
PVTC intends to increase the number of trainees to 3,000 this year if the government provides the promised grant. This special program was run with full dedication and almost all trained people receive jobs or offers.
This was because the training was based on the needs of the industry concerned, which agreed to provide six months of on-the-job training to minority students.
Full skill training requires this approach, which is currently not available to Muslim trained people due to lack of funds.
According to the 2017 census, Pakistan has 96.2% of Pakistan’s population, 1.6% among Hindus, 1.59% among Christians, 0.25% among Scheduled Castes, 0.22% among Ahmadis, and 0.07% among other minorities.
Most of these minorities live in poverty. Christian missionaries, to some extent, provide some help to fellow believers, while other minorities are less organized. Society does not treat them with respect. Skill-based skills training programs can help alleviate poverty.
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