KARACHI, Nov 17: A number of meritorious students have expressed concern over the delay in the allocation of scholarship, given to students every year under the President’s Talent Farming Scheme.
Students having passed their BSc (Pass) and MSc annual examinations said the inordinate delay had created doubt in their minds about the presidential stipends. “Perhaps, the federal government has abolished the scholarship for meritorious students as a part of its austerity drive,” they maintained.
Under the President’s Talent Farming Scheme, applications are invited every year through newspapers in Nov or Dec, following which the regional office of the University Grants Commission in Karachi collects applications and conduct tests for the purpose.
An amount of Rs400 is given to each student undertaking education in MSc, while Rs250 is paid to students of BSc classes per month, in addition to a lump sum amount for the purchase of books. The reports of the test are sent to the education ministry, which finally short-lists the students and finalizes the names for the award of scholarships every year and makes payments to students directly.
The students said the last test was held in May/June 2000 and since then there has been no further invitation from the government. It was learnt that 100 scholarships are given throughout the country every year.
An official at the UGC regional centre here said that there was no fresh instructions from the government on the subject so far and they had asked the students to wait. “Normally the ministry of education asks us to invite applications for the scholarships, following which we process the cases and hold test for the scholarship,” added the official.
