DHAKA, Nov 15, 2022 (BSS) - The government has taken development projects aimed at reducing unemployment and making youths self-employed in the country.

"We have taken various realistic projects to train youths for making them self-employed and also engage them in jobs," Youth and Sports Secretary Mesbah Uddin told BSS today.

He said the government has imparted training to 67 lakh youths on various income generation trades since 2009 to make them skilled and self-employed.

"Training programme is a continuous process for youth development. The youth development department is imparting training on a total of 83 trades across the country," Mesbah said.

He said 23 lakh trained youths out of 67 lakh have engaged themselves in self-employment so far.

According to the ministry, the government has taken an initiative to build Sheikh Jamal Youth Training and Recreation Centre at every upazila to reach the training programme to the grassroots level.

It said a project 'Economic Acceleration and Resilience for NEET (EARN)' was adopted with the World Bank finance to create employment opportunities for NEET youth population.

Under the 'project, the government will provide training to 20 lakh youths in five years, said the youth and sports secretary.

The youth development department will impart skill development training to the NEET youths, of which, about 50 percent is female, he said, adding the training programme will be spread up to the union levels.

Apart from this, 3rd phase of the IMPACT project has been adopted with the aim of making everyone a partner in building a better Bangladesh, Mesbah said.  

Under the previous 2 phases of the project, some 31,000 eco-friendly biogas plants were set up across the country as the project will install 64,000 baiogas plant in every district during it period, he added.

Sheikh Hasina Youth Development Institute at Savar gained unprecedented progress in terms of its quality and various youth development activities.

Within few days, activities related to national and international youth gatherings, youth exchanges, international seminars and symposiums on youth issues will be introduced at this institute.

The institute will also provide Ph.D., M. Phil, M S and diploma degrees on various subjects while it will become a centre of excellence for youths.

Besides, construction work of Sheikh Russell Mini Stadium is progressing fast at every upazila of the country. Of those, construction of 125 stadiums was completed while building of 186 stadiums is underway in the current financial year.

Apart from this, the work of preparing DPP for construction of 173 more stadiums is going on.

Bangabandhu National Stadium also is conducting its modernization and renovation work at a cost of about Tk 100 crore.