Under the vision of Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz, Punjab Minister for Youth Affairs and Sports Malik Faisal Ayub Khokhar along with members of the Punjab Cabinet Provincial Health Minister Khawaja Imran Nazir and Minister of Local Govt and Community Development Zeeshan Rafiq inaugurated Punjab’s historic Rs 2 billion Sports Endowment Fund and Rs one billion Chief Minister Internship Programme for Graduates at an impressive ceremony held at CM Secretariat at 90 Shara-e-Quaid-e-Azam on Wednesday.
Secretary Youth Affairs and Sports Punjab Muzaffar Khan Sial, Director General Sports Punjab Pervez Iqbal, LWMC Chairman Bilal Zulfiqar Ali Khokhar, Director Admin Dr M Kaleem, Director Sports Yasmeen Akhtar, Director Youth Affairs Rana Nadeem Anjum, renowned anchor Mansoor Ali Khan and a large number of male and female athletes belonging to different games attended the grand ceremony. In the opening ceremony, the top 200 players of Punjab were awarded the endowment fund.
Addressing the launching ceremony, Punjab Minister for Youth Affairs and Sports Malik Faisal Ayub Khokhar said that these best and top performing 200 players will be given a stipend in three categories of Rs 70,000, Rs 50,000 and Rs 30,000 for one year. “It is for the first time in the history of Punjab that such a huge monthly honorarium is being given to athletes”.
Punjab Minister for Youth Affairs and Sports Malik Faisal Ayub Khokhar said that the players have been selected purely on merit. “I have not recommended even a single athlete for granting Sports Endowment Fund or Chief Minister Internship Programme”.
He said that Punjab Sports Department had set a target of producing 500 best players in a year but our competent team prepared 200 talented players in a few months’ time. “Veteran deserving players and their families will also be entertained out of Sports Endowment Fund. Besides this, the health insurance of athletes will be arranged from this fund”.
Punjab Minister for Youth Affairs and Sports Malik Faisal Ayub Khokhar further said that the Sports Endowment Fund will also take care of the nutrition of the players. “The CM Internship Program worth one billion rupees has also been inaugurated through which Rs 25,000 per month will be given to 6,000 graduates. Next year, 12 thousand graduates will be given per month stipend”.
Punjab Minister for Youth Affairs and Sports Malik Faisal Ayub Khokhar said that today Punjab’s sports is scaling new heights because Chief Minister Punjab has encouraged the sports activities across Punjab to a great extent. “Not only Lahore, we are providing facilities to all players belonging to any part of the Punjab province”.
He further said that besides providing stipends and scholarships to athletes, high performance camps will also be set up with Sports Endowment Fund. "The top athletes will be extended all possible help for their training, injuries and participation in top international sports competitions", he informed.
In his address, Secretary Youth Affairs and Sports Punjab Muzaffar Khan Sial said that Punjab Youth Affairs Department will extend monthly stipend of Rs 25,000 to 6000 graduates for six months. “Definitely, it is a historic day as we are going to launch two big initiatives as per vision of CM Punjab - Chief Minister Internship Programme and Sports Endowment Fund”.
He further said that talent hunt programmes will be conducted through Sports Endowment Fund besides giving sports scholarships to the deserving players. "The establishment of Sports Endowment Fund will play an important role for the development of sports culture across the province," he added.
Director General Sports Punjab Pervez Iqbal on this occasion said that Punjab Sports Department is awarding scholarships to top performing 200 players in three categories – Platinum, Gold and Silver. “In Platinum category, the athletes will be given a stipend of Rs 70,000, in Gold category Rs 50,000 while Rs 30,000 will be given to athletes in Silver category for one year”.
Director General Sports Punjab Pervez Iqbal further said that besides this in Emerging category, the stipend amount has been increased from Rs 10,000 to Rs 15,000 per month on the directions of Punjab Minister for Youth Affairs and Sports Malik Faisal Ayub Khokhar.