As many as 300,000 more laptops will be distributed among students in public sector education institutes in the province, Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif said on Thursday. He said funds will be allocated in the upcoming budget to this end.
Sharif was addressing a gathering after distributing 100 laptops among Danish school students in Rahim Yar Khan.
He said the government would distribute as many as 110,000 laptops during the ongoing campaign.
The chief minister said the establishment of Danish Schools in remote areas of the province was part of his government’s efforts to provide quality education to deserving students. He said the government was committed to promoting welfare of the people and upholding merit and transparency.
Earlier, Shahbaz Sharif inaugurated a recently-constructed grain market and laid the foundation stone of an industrial estate.
Speaking at the foundation stone laying ceremony, he said he hoped the economy of the region would see a boom with the establishment of the industrial estate.
He urged the business community to invest in the estate and assured them of special incentives and state-of-the-art facilities.
The industrial estate will be set up in Chak No5 NP, Rahim Yar Khan, over an area of 455 acres.
Sharif also announced a Rs60 million grant for a project at the Rahim Yar Khan Chamber of Commerce and Industry secretariat.
The chief minister later inaugurated the grain market. The market has been constructed at a cost of Rs130 million and spread over 25 acres.
Published in The Express Tribune, February 3rd, 2012.
COMMENTS (35)
Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.
For more information, please see our Comments FAQ
1732434981-0/BeFunky-collage-(10)1732434981-0-405x300.webp "article")
@mubasyra: nice
instead giving laptops they should give jobs to jobless
Feed the man a fish, you feed him for a day .... Teach the man TO fish, You feed him for a lifetime,
Our dear CM is feeding handful people the fish ...the benefit of plan of action is very limited!
When there are schools all over Punjab with collapsing roofs and walls, was this really a good use of precious resources? Instead of politicians having pointless visions, why not ask people in the education sector where this money would be best spent? I am willing to bet a lot of money that they would point to improving existing schools not frivolous gadgets that many in the first world do very without.
@UMAIR: Every one (regarding he/she is poor or rich) has the right to be well dressed
Can my comment 'fittay muh' be allowed after moderation? I mean are they for real? who doesnt know that high %age is scored by kids/youth of elite "english medium" schools mostly. though not always but majority. what a plan of Punjab govt. I am so impressed that i have tears. thankyou Shehbaz sharif. p.s special thanks for PEELI TAXI for my youth.
Congratulations to all PTI followers to get laptops from Punjab government. We don't differentiate between political affiliation of students. No nepotism, only merit prevails in Punjab.
People with relatively shorter vision criticizing it; its an awesome and revolutionary step indeed. I salute you CM Shahbaz.
This is sad, People are actually tearing the CM apart for giving free laptops, opening schools in far flung areas, inaugrating an industrial estate, a grain market and giving money to the Chamber of Commerce in RYK. We have every right to vote for the person we want, but he certainly does not deserve such bashing for actually doing something.
Is this supposed to be a quick-fix to ensure popularity in the eyes of public?
POLICY SHOULD BE FOLLOWED IN WHOLE COUNTRY JUST NOT IN ONE PROVIENCE. GREAT JOB MR. SHAHBAZ SHAREEZ. YOU KNOW WHAT Our Dreams are what give us hope. They make us work towards them. They nudge us positively. Dream Big Big dreams. Visualize YOU already having attained your dream right now. Great people like Lincoln, Gandhi, Shakespeare, Tolstoy, Dickens, Van Gogh, Leonardo Da Vinci, Monet, Socrates, Stephen Hawking, Picasso, Einstein, Newton……… Do you think they Knew when they were born, what they were going to Become? How Legendary they were going to become? But they did eventually Become Extraordinary.......
Poor Shahbaz Sharif doesn't know laptop doesn't make student computer expert. Wasting money. His intentions might be good, but his schemes are pathetic
request to ones who got the laptop : please do join Imran Khan and PTI page on Facebook and do watch his live streaming...:D
He should have distributed low cost Tablet PCs like India has done. That tablets costs 5000-6000PKR.
@Bitter Reality If only you would have thought about what you said more carefully. The bitter reality is that there is no electricity. That is a reality, saying its not because of the CM makes no sense. Why pour billions on electronic gadgets when there are so many more areas which need investment. If there is no electricity be it for any reason, is it wise to spend this money on laptops?
sadly he is just buying votes....:(
All useless cosmetic steps. Spending so much on these laptops when these children could be provided free books, free tuition, better facilities at school itself, better sport facilities, motivation to study, educational awareness, just to name a few ...... then a laptop which they won't make much use of, except watching movies. Useless and very cosmetic!
there was absolutely no need for this lavish and luxurious piece of equipment to be given to the students free of cost. Shahbaz should have rather developed the university computer computer labs which would have been cost effective and long lasting. I am doing Petroleum Engineering in US and I can assure you I can do well without a laptop by using university computer labs.
another ploy to try to end PTI popularity in youth .. nothing else .......But no matter what we will only support IK and PTI inshaAllah :-)
The plan seems to be analogous to 'Sasti Roti' scam. I don't expect a brand new laptop worth 30,000 Rs to last more than a year. It would have been much better, had the money been used in establishing an international standard university or running the schools that serve as cattle farms in punjab for the feudals. It appears to be a desperate attempt to win over the youth for political ends. So please, even if you are recipient of the laptop, vote judiciously and don't sell your vote for a mere laptop.
I am just trying to imagine how a really poor student studying in some government school would view this pic?
@afaaq Simply we dont know how to appreciate someone, laptops may help students in case of load shedding, but we always want to say that glass is half empty as positiveness is a thing of past in our society. and let me tell you for you kind knowledge that power generation isn't the responsibility of provincial govt. If you didn't get laptop so dont be insane and be hopeful that someone of your sibling will get it.
Although i got a laptop yet i will support PTI.
An ordinary laptop costs, let's say, Rs. 35,000. Multiply this by 300,000 laptops and you get a whopping Rs. 10.5 billion!!
In my view, a better way to distribute such money would be to pick 10,000 jobless poor and loan them this money at 0% interest rate with a 15 year repayment plan (around Rs. 1.05 million per head) so that they can start their own business.
with a literacy rate at around 50 percent, there is more need to spend on primary education. What will these teenagers do with laptops? watch movies, listen to movies and surf the internet!
@khan: That's very judgemental sir :) Any how, dressed in designer attire or not, poor or rich she is a "Pakistani" too, now a days even middle class parents are struggling to pay college/uni fee let alone buy a computer/laptop for their kids.
Still, I agree, the less fortunate should be given priority. And why not desktop PCs??? you could buy 2 PCs with better specification for the price of one Laptop. That means more computers for more student!
lastly, I sincerely wish this doesn't turn out to be another yellow cab scheme, where mismanagement, non - payments and corruptions caused the financing banks dearly.
@Justice: The girl with designer dress is position holder, and thats make her deserving. Giving laptops in right hand does'nt mean to give all to hand to mouth people only.
Laptop to the university students, its OK.
But for God sake, no need to give laptop to School students. Instead promote book reading culture in schools. This amount which CM is spending on Laptop, it will be be better if spend on small library development in each school.
BTW why the students other tha Danish School is being treated like "step-students".
So when we will get electricity to charge them ...
Sheer hypocrisy. On one side people are finding it hard to make ends meet, while the CM is dispersing out laptops? Is food more important than giving out expensive laptops? In a country where there is no electricity, how would the CM be expecting kids to charge their laptops? If these are actually meant for the poor. COMPLETE waste of my tax returns. I don't pay taxes so that laptops are dished out. There are far more important things to counter than wasting millions down the drain ...
This is stark difference, feudal party -PPP gives loans in Sind to students to do cattle farming business and PMLN gives free laptops to bring students to in this IT era. Impressive Mian SS, wish PPP should learn some lessons from you.
Look on the picture. If this girl in a designer dress is deserving poor then I am forced to believe that Pakistan is oil rich emirate,
excallant job.....indeed you are doing a great job sir. Wish others CM to learn from your hardwork...one need to appreciate all your efforts
Good start. Let's make sure all 300,000 laps are accounted for in the hands of students.