Waheed Hussain
Modern technologies have revolutionized the world. 21st-century information technology systems have shifted the conventional mode of interaction in all spheres of life. These technologies have provided immense opportunities to the youth, especially students, to get education-knowledge and fulfill their future aspirations, becoming most efficient, successful and self-reliant citizens of the globe.
Keeping the pace with the rest of the world, the federal government has initiated the “Prime Minister’s Youth LaptopScheme 2023.” According to details, hundred thousand laptops would be distributed among the students in first-phase in 2023. At the opening ceremony on 7th July at Convention Center in Islamabad, Prime Minster Shahbaz Sharif assured the huge gathering, that all laptops would be distributed, purely on merit. We hope that the PM words would be translated into practice in the letter and spirit.
A laptop in the hands of a student is like a weapon. A college or a university level student cannot think of achieving the degree without a laptop.With the help this technology he or she will be able to record his or her class lectures, prepare notes and presentations in comfortable manner. This smart technology helps the student to reach to the treasure of knowledge related to his/her study program (the subject in which the students seek a degree program). The new discoveries, innovations related to a particular field, enable students to compete with the rest of the world. Our students would not be able to stand against the international standards, both as an educational degree or the work experience, if they do not have an easy access to the new research and developments,taking place in various fields, through modern information systems. The laptop is very viable and reliable solution which can take the student to the top.
The Prime Minister laptop scheme is extremely beneficial for a student, whose parents, or a family were short of financial resources, in times of soaring inflation. The country’s economy and financial position has put a lot of burden on those, whose monthly income an expenditure has a huge gap. Paying for the children’s education has become very tough. Naturally, after paying a handsome amount as a semester fee, sparing from hundred to two hundred thousand rupees for the laptop was a dream. This dream has come true for huge number of students through government laptop scheme.
This program will enable thousands of students to owna personal laptop,particularly those, whose parents were unable to arrange the required amount for purchasing this compulsory technology. When the privileged classmate enjoys the facility, the deprived students felt depressed resulting in badly effecting their studies and grades.The confidence in a student, either in the class or in company of university fellows, comes through the enabling environment.If that environment isnot equally provided to all students, most of them would fail to achieve their set targets. Laptop is a great facility for the less privileged students in our society.
Another great advantage of the laptop facility to the students, was that along with their studies, they could earn handsome amount, while serving various national and international organizations. Laptop helps in distance learning it also helps in the distance learning.I know many young girls and boys, who along with their studies, working online for various Information Technology, Marketing, Event Managements and Communication companies by using their laptops. The students and fresh degree holders get online projects making lot of money without physically attending any office. Hopefully those young people who would get the laptop through this scheme would use them for self-employment.
The laptops technology had been various useful during the covid period. Like many countries of the world, Pakistan was also shut down for preventing the spread of the deadly disease. The concept of work from home was introduced to reduce the human physical interaction. Hundreds of thousandsof students had attended their lectures online through laptop technology. Many of them were those students who had received their laptops from PML (N) Punjab government. Basically, this present laptop scheme of the federal government is the continuation of the past PML (N) Punjab governmentsinitiative, whenthe present Prime Minister Muhammad Shahbaz Sharif was the Chief Minister of Punjab. The Punjab government of Muhammad Shahbaz Sharif had distributed one million laptops to the students’period between 2008 to 2018. One million students mean a facility to the ten hundred thousand families throughout Punjab. It was a great relief to the masses at that time and is a relief them today as well.
We must keep this fact in mind that country is passing through severe financial crisis. There is a huge gap between the government revenues and expenditure. The country needs billions of dollars in the current financial years to pay back (debts and interests on the debts) to the international financial institutions including IMF and bilateral loans to the friendly countries. As a result, the government is under great pressure from International Monetary Fund (IMF) to curtail and control all kinds of spending. In such a tight financial situation allocating funds for schemes like laptop is a great decision of the government. For this the Prime Minister Muhammad Shahbaz Sharif and Finance MinisterMuhammad Ishaq Dar must be appreciated.
The present laptop scheme is being supervised and executed by the Youth Affairs Division, headed by the Special Assistance to the Prime Minister on Youth Affairs, Miss Shiza Fatima. No doubt, she is a hard-working and competent team member of Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif’s government. She put a lot of efforts to launch this scheme successfully in a very short period of time. Our political leadership should encourage the young politicians to come up with new ideas and energy for providing real relief to masses. Laptop scheme is poor and low-income oriented program which needs to be supported.
However, such schemes also had brought lot of financial scandals in the past. Some of the accusations no doubt was politically motivated both by the opposition and some segments of the media without any evidence. We hope as the prime minster assured that laptops would be distributed on the merit, he should also make it sure that some corrupt elements within the government hierarchy may not misuse their authority for the personal gains and ultimately bring a bad name to the prime minister and his government.Actually, the tax payer money was mostly lotted during the selection process of the companies (tendering process) and purchasing process of products. The senior bureaucrats who are part and parcel of such schemes must make it sure that transparency is being followed from beginning till the end of the scheme. Transparency would make this program a great success.
