By Amjad Iqbal ATTOCK: Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif on Tuesday inaugurated 127 development projects in Attock, including 59 road schemes costing Rs23 billion.
A large number of people welcomed the chief minister, while Haitian, Kamra and University roads were decorated. She removed security barriers to meet people and invited children to inaugurate an Agri Mall, land record centre, model children’s home, Fatehjang Special Education Centre and the road schemes.
Major roads included Fatehjang-Pindigheb, Dhoke Laham-Jhamat and Mithial Chowk-Dhoke Pathan. Ms Nawaz said 850 kilometres of roads had been built in Attock. She said billions of rupees were being spent to tackle rainwater accumulation in the city and its market had been beautified.
Addressing students at Comsats University at the Honhaar Scholarship Programme and laptop distribution ceremony, she advocated public engagement and urged studentsnottolose hope.
No child, she said, should leave education because of financial hardship; investment in students was vital. She praised female students’ academic progress and said opportunities must be based on merit.
She distributed laptops and scholarship cheques.
The Punjab government announced Honhaar scholarships for 3,600 students from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Students from Swabi were also present.
Beneficiaries said the support had made higher education accessible, citing semester fees of nearly Rs200,000.
Figures presented showed 108,000 students had received scholarships in the programme’s first three phases. Rawalpindi Division received 2,590 scholarships worth Rs196.97 million: 2,085 worth Rs170.21m for public university students, 314 worth Rs19.8m for medical university and college students, and 191 worth Rs6.96m for Higher Education Departmentaffiliated colleges.
The division’s 6,161 laptops went to public universities (4,628), private universities (257), medical colleges (461), nursing colleges (375), special education institutions (17) and HE’D-affiliated colleges (423).
Ms Nawaz said the laptop allocation had risen from 40,000 to 112,000, with 48,292 distributed across Punjab. KP students would continue to benefit; students were offered free green-bus travel and would receive e-bikes.