KARACHI, June 30: The trustees of the Quaid-i-Azam Mohammed Ali Jinnah Aligarh Scholarship Trust by investment of funds and its management increased corpus of the trust to Rs30.768 million and granted 4,108 scholarships to the poor and deserving students in Pakistan for graduate studies including 67 foreign scholarships from 1985 to 2005 of Rs20.73 million. The scholarships granted were for graduate studies in medicine, engineering, computer sciences, architecture, veterinary sciences, agriculture, law and allied sciences.

With the increase in corpus of the trust and support from the Pakistan government and philanthropists, general education trust created by the Sindh High Court and operating from Karachi through trustees, the said trust will be capable to provide more financial assistance and support by grant of the Jinnah educational scholarships.

While constituting the Quaid-i-Azam Aligarh Scholarship Trust, Sindh High Court Chief Justice appointed Syed Sharifuddin Pirzada, Justice (retd) Z A Channa (now deceased) and Liaquat Merchant as trustees.

In addition to bequests made by the Quaid-i-Azam in his will dated May 30, 1939 to the Bombay University, Anjuman islam School and Arabic College Delhi, Mr Jinnah also made a bequest that his residuary estate be divided among the Sindh Madressah Karachi, Islamic College Peshawar and the Aligarh University.

Administrators of the estate of Quaid-i-Azam, late Syed Hashim Reza and Liaquat Merchant made payments of Rs10.81 million each to the Islamia College, Peshawar and Sindh Madressah, Karachi, and identical amount paid to Quaid-i-Azam Aligarh Scholarship Trust constituted by a judgment of the Sindh High Court under the order passed by its late chief justice Abdul Hayee Kureshi on October 24, 1984.—PPI