LAHORE, Nov 14 (INP): Punjab Chief Minister (CM) Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif has said that youth is the guarantee for development, progress of the country, that’s why the provincial government has taken historical steps to security their future. Talking to a delegation of youth which called on him here on Tuesday, Shehbaz Sharif said that keeping in view the needs of the changing world; project of computer labs has been completed at earliest which will help the young generation to equip them with latest trend of knowledge. He said that the government is also pursuing the wonderful project of distributing laptops among the talented students on merit. So far, lakhs of laptops costing billions of rupees have been given to the students along with visits of position-holder students to world-renowned universities to help improve their intellectual ken. It is important that both male and female students belonging to all the federating units are included in the programs of youth development and these steps of the PML-N led Punjab government have promoted the passions of national unity and cohesion among the youth. The Chief Minister said that Punjab Educational Endowment Fund (PEEF) has been established to help continue the education of economically-deprived but bright students. Lakhs of students are benefitting from this educational fund which is indeed a historic step to empower the youth through education. It is sanguine that thousands of students are playing their role in the process of national development in their respective fields. Shehbaz Sharif said that Pakistan is lucky that more than 60 percent of its population consists of the youth and added that this part of the youth is a ray of hope for national development as its abilities can be utilized for collective wellbeing. He said the journey of development will be accelerated by empowering this major chunk of the population. That is why our government has started unique programs to help develop and empower the youth and investment to the tune of billions of rupees has been made to help the youth to study the latest fields of knowledge. He said that hundreds of students are learning the Chinese language in China and delegation of students is also sent to Turkey to study the Turkish language. The Chief Minister said the government is moving rapidly towards achieving the goal of educating two million youth in different professional skills and added that lakhs of students have been given technical education under the Punjab Skills Development Program who are now earning their livelihood in an honorable way. Shehbaz Sharif said that merit reigns supreme in the Punjab and its supremacy has been ensured in all the sectors of life. The idols of recommendations, hooliganism, nepotism and corruption have been broken down and merit has been ensured in all the programs of youth development. Talented and eligible people have been included in different departments through merit as it is the only way forward for progress. He said that the journey of national development can be fulfilled by making the youth as an engine of development and it is satisfying that the PML-N government has taken far-reaching steps in this regard. The steps taken for bringing improvements in the education sector have yielded positive results and no dearth of resources will ever hamper the process of education and training of the youth in future as well, concluded the Chief Minister. INP/SB