April 4, 2003	Friday	Safar 1, 1424

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LARKANA, April 3: Funds sanctioned by the ministry of religious affairs for its scholarship programme may lapse because of the slow pace of work by the local district education and Zakat and Ushr committees, sources in the district Nazim’s office said on Thursday.

An official of the local zakat committee, when contacted by this correspondent, said that Rs9,513,865 were allocated for awarding scholarships to students, ranging from primary classes to the university level.

He said that the concerned education officers had so far submitted a list of 6,151 eligible students.

Sources further said that Feb 2 was fixed as deadline by the Ministry of Religious Affairs, but relevant forms were dispatched on Feb 26.

They blamed the delay in complying with the deadline on shortage of staff in the education department.

Funds worth Rs10,049,550 had been earmarked for technical education alone, sources said, adding that the section had submitted its plan within the stipulated time.

This process may be delayed further as the forms would be verified again by Apa Maryam Noohani, former director of education, sources in the local Zakat office said.

District Nazim Khursheed Ahmed Junejo said on Thursday that funds under the ministry of religious affairs scholarship programme would not lapse as he had talked with the provincial secretary of Zakat and Ushr, adding that matters in this regard would be expedited.

The district Nazim had, in a letter addressed to the chairman of the district Zakat and Ushr committee on Wednesday, referred to the letter of the director of technical education, Sindh.

The letter had stated that an amount of Rs150 million was available for general education and Rs230 million for technical education scholarships under the scholarship programme, adding that this amount would be distributed among the deserving students during the current fiscal year in Sindh.

He further informed that only three months were left to accomplish the task, adding that there was a need to accelerate the pace of work in this regard.

The district Nazim further asked the chairman of the Zakat committee to furnish an institution-wise account of eligible students, which had already been submitted by the education officers, bringing the ministry of religious affairs up-to-date in this regard.

He had also urged the chairman of the Zakat and Ushr committee to identify the education officers, who had failed to submit forms in this regard, and report back to him (the district Nazim), adding that this would enable him to fix the responsibility for the delay.

Sources termed it strange that the exercise in this regard remained incomplete despite the secretary education had intimated about the scholarship programme of the ministry of religious affairs in February.

Very recently, they said, the director of the technical education, Sindh, had asked for expediting the process in a letter sent to the district Nazims and the DCOs on March 25.

The letter had stated that the if the funds lapsed, concerned officials would be held responsible.

Sources in the education department as well as the district Nazim’s office believed that there was little time left in this regard and apprehended that a major portion of funds might lapse if the process moved at its current pace.