RIYADH – The Human Resource Development Fund (HRDF), an affiliate of the Labor Ministry, is facing charges for allegedly fabricating success stories of Saudi youth in the name of Israr Prize. Labor Minister Mufrej Al-Haqabani has ordered an investigation into the scandal. The HRDF's alleged foul play was exposed after a Saudi youth circulated a message through Twitter, saying he was asked to participate in the program promising him a job but HRDF did not fulfill its promise. Al-Haqabani also instructed authorities to employ the youth immediately. Shoura Council member Hashim Rajih advised the young Saudi to file a lawsuit against the HRDF and urged the minister of culture and information not to air such fabricated programs that cheat the public. "The prize has deceived not only the public but also the young Saudis who were lured to present fabricated success stories by giving job promises," Rajih said. He also urged the prize's sponsors to take legal action against the organizers if they were unaware of the fabricated stories. "If they were aware, then they should also pay the price for cheating and exploiting unemployed youth," he added. The Israr Prize has received wide media publicity with the support of prominent media personalities who participated as its judges and in its prize distribution ceremonies. The prize, which was instituted two years ago to encourage young Saudi men and women to tell their success stories, hit a snag when the youth revealed that awards were given for fabricated stories. He also indicated that many other young men were exploited for the program. HRDF gave SR500,000 to the first prizewinner, SR150,000 for the second, SR100,000 for third and SR70,000 to the fourth place winners respectively. It also distributed cash prizes worth SR10,000 each to 150 outstanding participants. Other prizes valued SR680,000 bringing the total to SR3 million. The youth's tweet raised questions about the credibility of the prize and the success stories that were presented during the past two years. Organizers of the prize have been told to explain why did they promote fabricated stories spending huge amounts of money. According to the young man, the organizers had told him that only one of the six contestants would be selected for jobs. However, they said work contracts would be signed with other participants, who will be given free training to get jobs for a salary of not less than SR12,000. Organizers had taken a written undertaking from the youth that he would not demand any share of the program's revenue. The young man said he arrived from the Eastern Province to Riyadh for shooting at 6 a.m. but was not given any accommodation or food. Officials then explained to him and other participants how to present their stories. On the second day, the young man said, a number of Afghans were brought in and the organizers told every one of them to select and train four of them in five minutes. The youth also alleged the organizers kept them waiting on the roof of the hotel under the sun while the anchor was sleeping. When asked for the work contract, the youth was asked to wait until the completion of shooting and that they will contact him after a week. "I have been waiting since the middle of last year till today, nobody contacted me," he said. In the meantime, the program director called him by phone and told him not to tweet anything about the prize and that he would be given a free training course. The youth urged the minister to stop the fabricated prize that deceives young Saudis and the public.
