Naway Sahar scheme: Students protest against ‘unfair’ distribution of laptops

Allege Seraiki students are being discriminated against.

DERA ISMAIL KHAN: Students of Gomal College of Veterinary Sciences (GCVS) and Gomal University’s pharmacy department held a protest against the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa government’s laptop distribution Scheme ‘Naway Sahar’ at the city campus on Friday.

Students held a press conference and claimed they were deprived of the scheme and were discriminated against. They also termed this a violation of merit.

Shah Fahad, Zeshan Qureshi, Muhammad Zubair and Tanzil Rehman were representing students from both departments. They said 409 laptops have been distributed among students of Gomal University so far, but deserving students from GCVS and those in the pharmacy department were not given anything.



Shah Fahad alleged Seraiki students of the university are being intentionally deprived and were not awarded laptops because of their ethnicity.

Fahad maintained 1,400 laptops are now kept in reserve with the provincial government. He threatened to continue the protest if the computers are not provided to students from veterinary sciences and pharmacy departments.

The list of students enrolled in the four-year Bachelors of Science programme eligible to receive laptops under the Naway Sahar scheme does not include students from the GCVS or the pharmacy departments. Gomal University spokesperson could not be contacted despite repeated attempts.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 9^th, 2013.