President describes 'Ehsaas' as state guardianship project for deprived people

The Ehsaas Undergraduate Scholarship Project is a state guardianship for the deprived, as it is responsibility of the state to counter elitism by facilitating people in employment as well as education and health sectors.

This was stated by President Dr Arif Alvi while addressing the 27th Vice Chancellors Committee meeting held on Thursday in connection with Ehsaas Undergraduate Scholarships. The heads of public sector universities across the country attended the meeting at HEC Secretariat. Many of them joined through video link from their respective campuses, said a press release issued here on Thursday.

Dr Alvi regretted that students from low income families were forced to quit education after matriculation or intermediate due to financial constraints. "If only three percent of students acquire college education, 97 percent of the country's intellect is neglected," he asserted.

He stressed that the State was responsible for countering elitism by taking such measures as the launch of the Prime Minister's Ehsaas Programme. Elaborating his own experiences, he highlighted the importance of merit and need-based scholarships in a student's life. He said it was a major development that provision of educational opportunities to undergraduate students was focused under this project.

The President urged the Vice Chancellors to take a 'quantum jump' for enhancement in quality of education in order to make country's youth productive in terms of provision of service to the society. He stressed the need for ensuring fairness and transparency in the execution of Ehsaas Undergraduate Scholarship Project.

Appreciating the gender balance maintained in the project, he said it is a social obligation not to let the women's productivity and contribution to society go waste. He regretted that, according to a report, 80 percent of women graduating from medical institutions did not work. He also advised the University heads to take greater care of specially-abled students in whatever form they needed it.

Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Social Protection and Poverty Alleviation Dr Sania Nishtar said the project aimed at promoting human capital investment, as it was imperative to invest in the human capital making the youth technologically skilled to meet the future challenges. She said those scholarships were part of a much broader effort being made under the Prime Minister's Ehsaas Programme, to intervene on behalf of the welfare of the poor.

Dr Nishtar termed the project a paradigm change in the State scholarship policy. She said Prime Minister Imran Khan was keen that the programme should benefit maximum number of students across the country, adding the government would allocate more resources for that in the coming years.

Chairman HEC Tariq Banuri underscored that 249 out of 250 students from low income families could not afford to acquire undergraduate education, so the government must enhance budget for Ehsaas Scholarships. He informed the gathering that as many as 132,000 students had submitted applications under the first phase.-PR

Copyright Business Recorder, 2019