Govt Renames Kamyab Jawan Innovation League Program

The federal government has renamed the PTI government’s Kamyab Jawan Innovation League Program to Prime Minister’s National Innovation Award and increased the award amount by 567 percent.

The incumbent government has increased the award amount to be paid to 10 top candidates for their innovations by Rs. 0.75 million from earlier Rs. 0.15 million to Rs. 1 million, official documents seen by ProPakistani revealed.

The Central Development Working Party has approved the revised PC-I of the Prime Minister’s National Innovation project with a cost of Rs. 450.11 million

Scope of Work

The program is a continuation of an already approved project titled “Kamyab Jawan Innovation League”. The federal government will finance this project through block allocation budgetary support of the Prime Minister Youth Program. The Prime Minister’s National Innovation Award (PMNIA), an initiative of the Prime Minister’s Youth Program is being executed by Higher Education Commission.

As per revised PC-1, the Higher Education Commission will be the executing agency whereas the following five (05) public sector universities will be partner executing agencies for the provision of technical assistance for capacity building of the shortlisted applicants and region-wise pitching competition during the course of project implementation:

• National University of Science and Technology (NUST), Islamabad
• Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS), Lahore
• Institute of Business Administration (IBA), Karachi
• Institute of Management and Sciences (IMSciences), Peshawar
• Balochistan University of Information Technology, Engineering and Management Sciences, Quetta

The objective of the Innovation Award is:

• Improving Pakistan Ranking in the Global Innovation Index,
• Foster Entrepreneurial Culture among the Youth
• Transforming Ideas to Businesses

Justification for Revision of PC-I and Variation in Scope of the Project:

• The initial award for runner-ups was Rs. 80,000/- per applicant for 450 toppers, for 05 finalists it was Rs. 0.15M per student and for 20 runner-ups it was Rs. 0.1 M per student.
• The nominal amount which was kept for awards was not enough for an idea to be converted into a startup. It was proposed by the PM office that a considerable amount may be given as awards. Keeping in view the proposal from the PM office, the model of the project has been changed. A capacity Building component has been added. Moreover, the award amounts are significantly increased.
• Region-wise Training on “Idea Pitching” will be provided to approximately 250 shortlisted candidates. A number of Rs. 100,000/- for logistics will be given to the top 250 shortlisted applicants during training and the Pitching Competition. They will compete in Pitching Competition and the top 50 winners will be given a significant amount of awards. Rs. 1.00 million will be given to the top 10 awardees whereas Rs. 0.5 million will be awarded to 40 runner-ups.
• They will also be allowed to incubate for 6 months in the public sector Business Incubation Center of their own choice. During these 6 months of incubation, they may also request supplementary funds up to Rs. 1.00 M in addition to the award money as per their requirement and approval of the experts in their cash plans to scale up their ideas
• An investor-connect event will be organized upon successful completion of incubation.