SWABI, June 25: Around 400 students hailing from rural areas will be awarded scholarships to undertake a four-year undergraduate degree programme at leading universities of the country.

Dr Qasim Sheikh, chief executive officer of the National Information and Communication Technology Research and Development (NICT R&D) Fund Outreach Scholarship Programme, announced the scholarships on Monday while addressing students at the Ghulam Ishaq Khan Institute of Engineering Sciences and Technology.

The programme was initiated by the Ministry of Information Technology for talented students of government colleges in rural areas. In NWFP, the programme was launched as a joint venture between the IT ministry and the GIK institute.

At least 7,000 students would be trained for admission/entry tests at the universities and of them 400 would be selected for scholarships.

“Two-hundred and twenty-four students would be selected from Punjab, 90 from Sindh, 66 from the NWFP and 20 from Balochistan,” Mr Sheikh said. “We have given quota of scholarships to each province according to the population,” he added.

The total cost of the programme would be Rs85 million.