Prime Minister urges scholarships for deserving students Islamabad: November 01, 2012
5-11-2012


Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf has stressed on the need to providescholarships to students belonging to under-developed areas and deservingstudents so that these less privileged students can also have the opportunityto study in top universities of the country.

This was stated by the Prime Minister while chairing the 23rd BoardMeeting of National Information and Communication Technology Research andDevelopment Fund (ICT R&D) at the PM’s House this morning.

The Prime Minister expressed the hope that the Board would increase thenumber of scholarships for students in FATA, Balochistan and Gilgit-Baltistanso that they are provided an opportunity to attend top universities in thecountry.

The Prime Minister also announced the roll-out of National ICT ResearchAwards Programme as well that seeks to acknowledge the efforts andcontributions of Pakistani organizations, researchers, academicians andprofessionals.

The establishment of VU-ICT Campuses in Alipur, Jhal Magsi, Kalat,Khuzdar, Gujar Khan and Rahim Yar Khan and IT Blocks in Viqar-un-Nisa College for Women Rawalpindi and Kinnaird College for Women Lahore, DG Khan Campus of Bahauddin Zakariya University was also announced by the Prime Minister.



The Prime Minister said that in a country like Pakistan where literacy is below,Information Technology can play an important role in improving thesocio-economic condition of the people.

The Prime Minister was informed that 3175 scholarships have been givenby the Fund during the last five years apart from funding research projects inareas identified by the Board.

The Prime Minister also advised the Board to prepare vocationalprogrammes so that students can be absorbed by the market.

The Prime Minister approved provision for 500scholarships per year for the next three years. “The fundsare available and if there are needy students especially from under-privilegedareas, more scholarships may be given”, observed the Prime Minister.

The Prime Minister also directed to earmark Rupees one Billion forICT-centric projects exclusively for the uplift, education, training andfacilitation of residents of Balochistan.

The Board approved the annual budget of the Fund for FY 2012-13 besidesgiving in-principal approval for continuation of Prime Minister National ICTScholarship Programme (PMNICTSP) and National Grassroots ICT ResearchInitiative (NGIRI). The total budget for these important national-levelprogrammes exceeds Rs 2 billion.

The meeting was attended by Mr Amir Tariq Zaman KhanSecretary Information Technology, Mr Farooq Ahmad Awan Chairman PTA andother senior officials.