PESHAWAR: Special Assistant to the Chief Minister for Minority Affairs, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Wazir Zada Saturday handed over a total of Rs 10 million cheques of financial support to 273 deserving persons of minorities’ community here.
Addressing the cheques handing over ceremony here, he said that the government was well aware of the problems being faced by the minority communities and in this regard, the government had issued cheques of financial assistance to deserving persons.
He further clarified that the present government has taken practical steps to equip all the youth of the minority communities with education, adding that the PTI government during its four-year tenure had not only facilitated communication between the ministers and the people but also the rewards given to the people of the minority communities and made them aware of their rights.
He said that in order to encourage the children of minorities to get higher education, the provincial government on the directives of Chief Minister Mahmood Khan have allocated a hefty amount of Rs 1.45 billion in the budget for minorities, which is a record, he remarked.
He said that the government was also giving Rs 1 million scholarship to minority youth for Ph.D, Rs 200,000 for M.Phil, Rs 100,000 for MA, MSc, Rs 70,000 for BA, BSc and Rs 50,000 for intermediate.
He said that these scholarships were being given at only 45 percent marks, adding that the government was also paying the school fee of 1500 children of deserving minorities. Similarly, Rs 35,000 being given per annum for missionary teachers, 80,000 marriage grants each to 400 deserving families and Rs 1200 financial
support for widows.
He said that the government would provide grants to the youth of minority communities so that they could run their own business. The present government had fixed a five percent quota for minorities in jobs and also given relaxation in tests and interviews for these jobs.
Administrator Awqaf Hamid Giani, Assistant Administrator Zafar Khan, Section Officer Jahanzeb Khan and other concerned officials were also present on the occasion.
