CM intends to give 'Honhaar' scholarships in Balochistan

Distributes laptops among visiting students

LAHORE:

Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif has expressed her desire to visit Balochistan in the near future to give Honhaar scholarships to students.

Meeting a delegation of 50 students from the Balochistan Residential College Loralai, she added, "Balochistan is rich in natural resources, we do not have as much natural resources as Balochistan but we spend on people's welfare by increasing revenue. Wherever the PML-N remained in power, development took place." The CM said Balochistan had remained the centre of attention of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif. "Balochistan is the land of martyrs who laid down their lives for Pakistan," she added.

She said the presence of terrorists in Balochistan was heartrending and painful. Terrorists themselves stay out of picture and lure other people's children for getting them killed. "We are Pakistanis first then Punjabis and Baloch," she added.

The chief minister gifted laptops to all the vising students and directed the authorities to organise a tour of Lahore for them. According to an official statement, students from Balochistan expressed their desire to study in Punjab.

The chief minister said, "I want to visit Balochistan in the near future to give Honhaar scholarships to the students. If I can, I will give more scholarships and laptops to the students of Balochistan than Punjab. My heart aches for the people of Balochistan. I have been thinking about the students of Balochistan for a long time."

She said the prospects for providing e-bikes to the students of Balochistan would also be reviewed. She said the students of Balochistan would advance ahead of everyone else if provided favourable conditions.

"Nations do not develop by begging. We came out of the clutches of the IMF in 2016 and were trapped again later. We want to move ahead by using our own resources and human development as a means to attain progress. Punjab and Balochistan receive funds based on their population," she said.

She said 30,000 students were being given Honhaar scholarships for government as well as private universities, including 18,000 female students. They will get free education for four years.

She said, "In the digital era, studying is not possible without a laptop." She said the people of Balochistan were also benefiting from free medicines, dialysis and other healthcare facilities.

She added, "Everyone should benefit from the fruits of development. People from Balochistan and other provinces will also be able to get treatment in Pakistan's first government-run Nawaz Sharif Cancer Hospital. Liquid nitrogen cryosurgery machines are being brought from China for cancer treatment."

She said, "The people of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa will also be able to benefit after the establishment of the Nawaz Sharif Institute of Cardiology in Sargodha.