CM promises foreign scholarships

Launches Honhaar scheme for private, govt varsities

LAHORE:

Launching the country's biggest scholarship scheme for students, Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif has announced that they would also be offered foreign scholarships.

The chief minister launched the Honhaar scholarships by distributing cheques among students at Punjab University. She also launched an e-portal for the scholarship scheme.

Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz announced on the occasion that foreign scholarships would also be launched for students. "Giving scholarships for foreign universities is quite expensive, but imparting foreign education to our children is our foremost priority. If a child gets admission in a foreign university then the Punjab government will bear the entire expense," she added.

She directed the authorities concerned to launch a laptop scheme for students next month and to take steps to provide additional e-bikes to them.

A police contingent presented a guard of honour to the students getting the scholarships.

Addressing the ceremony, the chief minister said, "No child of Punjab will be deprived of education due to lack of financial resources after getting admission in university."

She said 30,000 of the 70,000 applicants would get the scholarships.

The scholarship benefits students from private and government universities. "I felt pleased to hear that 18,000 female students are among those receiving scholarships. The female students remain deprived of opportunities due to social restrictions, but now they will move forward," the chief minister said.

She added that 32 per cent of the students receiving the scholarships were from South Punjab. "I believe that there is no better empowerment and investment than knowledge."

The CM said, "Students may belong to any party, we will give them scholarships without any discrimination. Only merit prevails in Punjab, even appointments in district administration and police are being made purely on merit."

She said the Punjab government would establish campuses of major foreign educational institutions in the Nawaz Sharif IT City.

She added, "For the first time, we have started internships in different departments at Rs60,000 per month. It is also our responsibility to provide employment opportunities to the children after getting education. If they work in Pakistan with full energy and ability, then Pakistan will make immense progress. If the youth contribute their part in the progress of Pakistan then Pakistan will move forward rapidly. I want my children to get a respectable degree so that they do not have to move out of their country for seeking a better employment. I want to give loans up to Rs10 million to my children for doing their business after getting their degrees."

She said, "The previous governments could spend public money on the welfare of the people, but they failed to do so. My heart felt overwhelmed with emotions when I listened to the children about their problems. Youth depict the real face of Pakistan and those holding rifles, guns and sticks in their hands do not present the face of Pakistan."