Islamabad: The Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) has approved the Prime Minister’s Youth Laptop Scheme-HEC (Phase-III) at a cost of Rs 10,827.28 million.
Federal Minister for Finance and Revenue Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar chaired the meeting of the ECNEC.
As per the details, the ECNEC approved PM’s Youth Laptop Scheme-HEC (Phase-III) at a cost of Rs 10,827.28 million in order to provide an opportunity to young and talented students studying in public sector higher education institutes across the country including AJK and GB.
Under the envisaged Phase-III project, 100K laptops would be distributed among meritorious students in two years.
Under the PC-1, the cost of around 74000 laptops were Rs8 billion but it has not surged to Rs10.8 billion in revised PC-1, sources added.
In addition, sources said that ECNEC has directed a technical committee to finalize the specifications of laptops in three days.
Sources close to development told this scribe that HEC has also requested not to change the specifications of laptops and if this happens then the procurement would further delay two to three months.
Reportedly, HEC has started the process of procurement of laptops as it has also received bids from companies.
Meanwhile, the ECNEC also approved the National Development Internship Programme. The programme is in line with the vision of the Prime Minister of Pakistan to mainstream the youth and involve them in national development. The programme aims to enhance the capacity of young Pakistanis in their relevant educational areas and enhance their practical and technical skills and provide opportunities to introduce fresh ideas in the development sector of Pakistan.
The expenditure of the programme will be met from the development projects being implemented under PSDP.
Planning commission submitted a summary regarding the Indus Highway (N-55) additional carriage Project. The ECNEC considered and allowed 15% of procurement for one of the four components of the project in US dollars as per ADB guidelines. The project was already approved by the ECNEC on 1st October,2022 at cost of Rs. 44,703.89 million with ADB share of Rs. 40,233.50 million (US$ 241.27 million).
The ECNEC considered and approved Construction of Northern Section of Ring Road (Missing Link) from Warsak Road to Nasir Bagh Road- project at the rationalized/reduced cost of Rs. 17,139.007 million without any FEC , fully funded by Govt of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The project envisages construction of a 6 lane Northern section of Peshawar Ring road from Warsak road to Nasir Bagh road with a total length of 7.8 Kms. There will be a 2 lane service road on each side of the Ring Road.
The ECNEC also considered and approved a provincial project named “Construction of Gravity Flow Water Supply Scheme Mansehra” at a cost of Rs. 18,583.41 million, to be executed by Govt of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The project aims at provision of gravity flow potable water supply system for Mansehra city to fulfil the present and future needs upto 2040. The project on its completion will provide the required potable water supply facilities to the population of 201,249 persons for the designed period.
The ECNEC approved PC-1 of Post-Flood 2022 Reconstruction Plan: Resilience, Enhancement and Livelihood Diversification in Balochistan, project at a total cost of Rs. 88,000 million (US$ 400 Million) funded by the World Bank. The Federal Government and Govt of Balochistan through Federal PMU and Project Implementation Unit will execute the project to support, finance and incentivize Post-Flood reconstruction, resilience enhancement and livelihood diversification initiatives with focus on flood-ravaged and resource-constrained provinces of Balochistan.
The ECNEC approved Special Development Initiatives for Backward/Poor Districts in the country at a cost of Rs. 40 billion on a 50:50 basis between Federal and provincial governments. The project aims to support interventions to bring noticeable change in social and economic fabric of these districts.
The ECNEC approved Overseas Scholarship for MS/M.Phil leading to Ph.D in selected fields (Phase-III) at a cost of Rs. 22,214.578 million with FEC Rs. 21,402.142 million to give chances to young Pakistani scholars to pursue higher education at some of the world’s leading universities.
The ECNEC approved a project regarding provision of Higher Education Opportunities for students of Balochistan & erstwhile FATA ( Phase-III) at a cost of Rs. 8,663.350 million with aim to provide equal education opportunities to the talented students of the disadvantaged areas to bring them at par with developed and developing areas of the country creating a core of talented and qualified manpower.
The ECNEC considered and approved Sindh Human Capital Investment: 1000 days-Integrated Health and Population programme at a total cost of Rs. 61,600 million including foreign funds of Rs. 55,000.058 million by the World Bank to improve utilization and quality of reproductive , maternal, neonatal, child and adolescent health and nutrition services, and women economic empowerment through skill development and micro financing to a target population of 9.7 million in selected districts of Sindh province.
The ECNEC also approved Flood Response Emergency Housing Project at rationalized cost of Rs. 160,000 million including World Bank loan of US$ 500 million to support the flood affected people in all districts of Sindh in the climate resilient reconstruction & repairs of their houses and helping them overcome the misery and trouble inflicted upon them during the recent rain disaster.
