Thursday, September 21, 2023

Country needs to focus on holistic development of youth: PM Prachanda

Kathmandu, Sept. 16

Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda has said that the country needs to focus on the holistic development of the youth before it loses opportunities of demographic dividend.

"Development of youth is basically the development of society and country. This period of high youth population is a special situation in terms of demographic dividend, which may not last for a long time," he said while addressing the Nepal Youth Entrepreneurship Summit 2023 in the Capital on Saturday.

According to the National Youth Policy, the population in the age group of 16 to 40 years is considered as youth. According to Census 2078, the population of such youth is 12.4 million which is about 42.56 per cent of the demography. "Therefore, without losing the demographic dividend, we should prioritize the development of the youth," said PM Prachanda.

"On the one hand, we have to use the knowledge, skills, competence, ability and experience of the youth to mobilise them for nation building, on the other hand, we have the responsibility to awaken hope, trust and dreams among the youth within the country," he stated.

According to him, change, development and transformation of the country is not possible without thinking about the future of millions of Nepali youths abroad. He maintained that the government is seriously working to protect their interests, ensure their safety and self-esteem, and create jobs within the country.

PM Prachanda also stated that the current government has made significant efforts in the field of social justice. "The process of connecting millions of youth to the Social Security Fund has been started. Within a few months, we have set a goal of linking about 2.5 million Nepali youths living abroad with the SSF," he said.

Likewise, the government has begun the work to connect the informal sector workers with the SSF. According to the PM, these initiatives will create an environment where the youth can see the future within the country.

PM Prachanda also added that the government has been working strategically for the meaningful participation of the youth in every field while developing various capabilities in them.

The government has announced to celebrate the current Fiscal Year 2023/24 as 'Youth Entrepreneurship Year'.

Facilitation of concessional loans, creation of youth-friendly investment environment, start-up, innovation and entrepreneurship have been given priority in order to show Nepali youth their future in the country, maintained PM Prachanda.  

 Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 17 September 2023. 

No comments:

Post a Comment

Featured Story

Govt prepares primary draft of DRR Policy

Kathmandu, Apr. 29: The government has prepared the preliminary report of the National Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) Policy and Strategic ...