The e-Rozgaar is an initiative taken by the Punjab Information Technology Board (PITB) and Youth Affairs, Sports, Archeology & Tourism to empower the youth by setting a platform where they can learn the art of freelancing and earn online. Their vision is to reduce unemployment and drive economic growth in Pakistan, by increasing inflow of foreign currency. On 19th of May, The first ever e-Rozgaar center was inaugurated at the University of Gujrat by esteemed Chief Guest, Chairman PITB. Dr. Umar Saif. Dr. Umar was warmly welcomed by the Vice Chancellor Dr. Zia-Ul-Qayyum, students and faculty of University of Gujrat.
The ceremony began at 11 in the morning with Dr. Umar Saif cutting the ribbon to formally launch the e-Rozgaar center at University of Gujrat. He then proceeded to the auditorium from where the ceremony was carried forward.
The event was attended by Director General E-Governance Sajid Latif, Director Entrepreneurship Nabeel Qadeer, Senior Program Manager Mehak Jamal, Chaudhry Muhammad Ali Randhawa DCO, Sohail Zafar Chattha, DPO and Haider Miraj, Director, Business Incubation Center.
Vice Chancellor Dr. Zia-Ul-Qayyum was extremely gratified that his university was chosen as the first center for such a superb notion. He vowed that his center would be the best and will produce the finest freelancers in the country. He then invited Dr. Umar to the stage to speak to the students and faculty present in the auditorium.
Dr. Umar proudly laid out the statistics for the program which are truly remarkable. There were more than 600 candidates who applied, out of which 260 were selected, 159 being from University of Gujrat. Dr. Umar Saif recounted his university days and quoted examples of leading entrepreneurs in the world to serve as motivation for the youth attending the launch and claimed that ‘e-Rozgaar Program will be a herald of change for competent students looking to monetize their skills’.
The program will have three course tracks; technical, non-technical and creative design. All of these will enable youngsters to become self-sustainable freelancers in Punjab. In the first phase 10,000 candidates will be trained in three different batches in one year. 40 training centers are being established in 36 districts of Punjab. Out of which, five centers are dedicated for female candidates. PITB received an enthusiastic response by registering 33105 applications from the young graduates. The application data reveals that 16 Ph.D., 1794 MPhil, 15574 Masters, 15143 graduates and 578 B.Tech (Honors) applied for this program. Applications were received from all over the province.
Director Business Incubation Center Haider Miraj has promised to deliver only the best facilities eRozgaar Centers and also gave them a green card into the Business Incubation Center whenever the students would prefer.
The Vice Chancellor handed tokens of gratitude to all the guests present while Dr. Umar Saif presented a token of appreciation to the Vice Chancellor. The evening was concluded by Dr. Umar Saif, on the verse from the poem ‘dhuaan’ by Faiz Ahmed Faiz’s, “Jinki qadmon ko kisi rah ka sahara bhi nahi,unki nazro’n pe koi rah ujagar kar de”.
