LAHORE: The Chief Minister of Punjab, Maryam Nawaz Sharif, has said that skilled workers going abroad would be provided assistance, including tickets.
She said the government was empowering youth through AI tools and had trained 500,000 young people under the skills development programme over the last two years.
She directed the authorities concerned to take steps for the construction of a girls’ hostel at the University of Sahiwal and the restoration of scholarships for nurses.
Addressing a ceremony for the distribution of laptops and Honhaar Scholarship cheques at the University of Sahiwal, the chief minister congratulated the students and their parents and paid special tribute to the teachers of the talented recipients.
Maryam Nawaz Sharif said the day was an occasion to pay tribute to parents whose sacrifices had enabled their children to reach this stage.
“I salute the parents who have given the nation a talented generation to be proud of,” she said.
She said that, for the first time, nurses and students of religious seminaries had also been included in government schemes.
Under the Work for Punjab programme, university graduates were being offered internships with monthly stipends of Rs60,000 to Rs65,000.
The government was also considering assigning responsibilities to graduates of schools, colleges and universities.
She said facilities, including washrooms, drinking water and artificial intelligence tools, were being developed in educational institutions across Punjab.
She praised Education Minister Rana Sikandar for undertaking various initiatives, including the development of a new syllabus.
She said she had personally interviewed candidates in batches of 10 before appointing vice chancellors on merit at every university in Punjab.
“I do not accept recommendations even if they come from my own home,” she said.
Maryam Nawaz Sharif said urban beautification was not the exclusive right of Lahore, adding that Sahiwal, Okara and Pakpattan deserved the same attention.
She said Punjab had received the UN-Habitat Scroll of Honour Award for its low-cost housing initiative, described as the world’s fastest such scheme.
She said 300,000 acres of land were being provided to landless people for cultivation.
The chief minister said patients were receiving medicines at their doorsteps for periods of up to two months.
The government was reaching out to people in need instead of requiring them to visit government offices.
Workers were being provided treatment at their workplaces so that they would not lose their daily wages.
Under the Maryam Ki Dastak programme, services such as birth certificates were also being provided at people’s doorsteps.
She said three crore people had benefited from the Clinic on Wheels initiative, while Water and Sanitation Agencies (WASAs) and Parks and Horticulture Authorities (PHAs) had been established in every district.
She said the government had issued one million Kisan Cards and provided 30,000 tractors to farmers, while Livestock Cards were being introduced to support livestock owners. Students from other provinces had also been allocated a quota under the laptop scheme.
Maryam Nawaz Sharif said children were being provided quality education and facilities comparable to those at Aitchison College through the Nawaz Sharif Schools of Eminence initiative.
Expressing deep sorrow over the deaths of innocent children after a school roof collapsed in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, she said the tragedy had caused her profound grief.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2026