DERA GHAZI KHAN: Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz made significant announcements during her visit to Layyah to distribute laptops and Honhaar scholarship cheques among the students, reaffirming her government’s commitment to education, development and national unity.

While addressing the ceremony on Friday, she announced the establishment of a medical college in Layyah and historic allocation of Rs3bn for the development of universities in Dera Ghazi Khan and Layyah. She said that as a part of the initiative, Nawaz Sharif Centres of Excellence for Early Childhood Education would be established in both cities.

One of the most ambitious plans unveiled was the Rs110n school infrastructure programme, aimed at ensuring that every school in Punjab had classrooms, toilets and essential facilities within a year.

“No school will lack basic facilities,” the CM said.

The CM congratulated Army Chief Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir on the successful completion of Operation Bunyan-um-Marsoos and congratulated Air Chief Marshal Zaheer Babar Sidhu on behalf of students. Paying tribute to the armed forces, she encouraged the students to be a shield for the nation, asserting that no power could defeat a united Pakistan.

Maryam also announced that merit-based scholarships had been increased from 30,000 to 50,000 and laptops from 40,000 to 100,000, promoting digital empowerment and self-sufficiency among the students.

CM Maryam also voiced strong criticism of those who incite youth into violence and condemned the desecration of martyrs’ memorials. “Missiles don’t destroy nations—chaos does,” she warned, urging the youth to resist anarchic influences and protect national institutions and assets.

Published in Dawn, May 31st, 2025