LAHORE: Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif on Tuesday distributed laptops and Honhaar scholarships among students at a ceremony held at Comsats University in Attock, with recipients from Swabi, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, also benefiting from the initiative.
Students from KP thanked the Punjab government for extending the scholarship programme beyond the province, saying the financial assistance had helped them meet semester fees of around Rs200,000.
During the ceremony, the chief minister handed over laptops and scholarship awards to students. Some participants also presented her with portraits and sketches.
A total of 6,161 laptops were distributed among students across the Rawalpindi division. These included 628 devices for public university students, 257 for those enrolled in private universities, 461 for medical colleges, 375 for nursing colleges, 17 for special education institutions and 423 for colleges operating under the Higher Education Department (HED).
Under the Honhaar Scholarship Programme, 2,590 scholarships amounting to Rs196.97 million were awarded in the division.
Of these, 2,085 scholarships worth Rs170.21 million went to public university students, while 314 scholarships valued at Rs19.8 million were granted to students of medical universities and colleges. A further 191 scholarships worth Rs6.96 million were allocated to students of HED colleges.
The programme extends financial support to students enrolled in public and private universities, federally chartered institutions, BS colleges, special education centres and medical and dental colleges.
The chief minister has also increased the laptop allocation for deserving students from 40,000 to 112,000. However, according to recent reports, 48,292 laptops have so far been distributed across various districts of Punjab.
Meanwhile, 108,000 students have received scholarships during the first three phases of the Honhaar Scholarship Programme.
Maryam Nawaz also met elected representatives, party ticket holders and other political figures who attended the event.
