ISLAMABAD, Dec 23 : Chief Minister Punjab Maryam Nawaz Sharif on Monday inaugurated Phase-II of Pakistan\u2019s largest educational initiative, the \u201cHonahar Scholarship Program\u201d, covering expenses of 30,000 students annually and 120,000 students over the next four years, marking a historic step in the country\u2019s educational landscape.
\nSpeaking at a ceremony held here at FAST National University of Computer and Engineering Sciences, the Chief Minister stated, \u201cUnder this program, talented students can pursue higher education at top Pakistani institutions without financial worries. The Punjab government will cover 100% of the educational expenses for qualified students.\u201d<\/p>\n
The program benefits students from \u201c65 universities, 12 medical and dental colleges, and 359 colleges in Punjab\u201d, covering 68 disciplines. Students under 22 years of age with a Punjab domicile and a parental income below Rs. 300,000 per month are eligible to apply.
\nTo ensure transparency, all applications were processed through an online portal. A multi-tiered scrutiny process involving institutional, provincial, and steering committees\u2014led by Senior Provincial Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb\u2014oversees the program.
\nHighlighting the initiative\u2019s scope, Maryam Nawaz noted, \u201cScholarships have already been awarded to 2,473 students at the University of Punjab. Today, 2,570 students from Rawalpindi Division are being awarded scholarships at this ceremony.\u201d She further shared that \u201c1,886 students from UET Lahore\u201d have benefited, she added, \u201c1660 scholarships\u201d are allocated for students from public sector universities, while 637 scholarships are for federal universities which will be distributed among the students of private sector universities, a first in the country\u2019s history.<\/p>\n
In line with her vision to empower women, 60% of the scholarships have been reserved for female students. \u201cThis is the real change the people of Punjab are witnessing,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Maryam Nawaz also announced the establishment of an \u201cAI institution in Nawaz Sharif IT City Lahore\u201d, aiming to provide students with education in cutting-edge fields like Artificial Intelligence and Cybersecurity.
\nThe Chief Minister expressed her optimism for the country\u2019s future, stating, \u201cThese brilliant students will lead Pakistan to prosperity through their hard work. While our opponents resort to criticism, we are working for the people\u2019s progress.\u201d
\nShe revealed plans to award 50,000 scholarships by next year, and provide laptops\u201d to students. \u201cIt is my wish to offer e-bikes at no cost to 100,000 deserving students,\u201d she said.
\nResponding to opposition allegations about the program\u2019s funding, Maryam Nawaz questioned, \u201cIf these resources are from the public treasury, why didn\u2019t the previous government use them for scholarships? These scholarships are the students\u2019 right, and I am merely fulfilling my duty.\u201d
\nMaryam Nawaz urged students to respect their parents and appreciate Pakistan as a blessing. \u201cAlways honor women, regardless of their political affiliations,\u201d she said, while emphasizing her commitment to 100% merit-based systems.
\nReflecting on her personal struggles, she said, \u201cFacing jail and baseless cases has only strengthened my resolve to serve Pakistan. I am proud to see our students receiving guard-of-honor, as they symbolize the bright future of our nation.\u201d
\nPakistan\u2019s economy is stabilizing after being on the verge of default, and the government remains focused on empowering the youth and securing the nation\u2019s progress, she concluded.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
ISLAMABAD, Dec 23 : Chief Minister Punjab Maryam Nawaz Sharif on Monday inaugurated Phase-II of Pakistan\u2019s largest educational initiative, the \u201cHonahar Scholarship Program\u201d, covering expenses of 30,000 students annually and 120,000 students over the next four years, marking a historic step in the country\u2019s educational landscape. Speaking at a ceremony held here at FAST National …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":74579,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-74567","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-national"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74567","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=74567"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74567\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":74586,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74567\/revisions\/74586"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/74579"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=74567"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=74567"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=74567"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}