Prime Minister Imran Khan is launching twenty-four billion rupees Ehsaas undergraduate scholarship program on Monday.

Sharing key features of the program at a news conference in Islamabad on Monday, Special Assistant on Poverty Alleviation and Social Safety Sania Nishtar said it is the country's biggest ever need based scholarship program for the undergraduates.

She said fifty thousand scholarships will be given each year to the deserving students of 119 public sector universities across the country including Azad Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan. A total of two hundred thousand students will benefit from this program.

Sania Nishtar said that fifty percent quota has been fixed in the undergraduate scholarship program for the women whilst two percent for the disabled persons.

She said the scholarship program covers the tuition fee and four thousand rupees will be given to the students as a monthly stipend.

The Special Assistant said that over one hundred and thirty two thousand students have applied for the scholarship.

She said the whole process has been completed transparently with the cooperation of Higher Education Commission.  She said the HEC online portal for the receipt of scholarship applications for the next year will be opened this June.

Sania Nishtar said that various programs have been launched under Ehsaas program to steer the poor people out of poverty.

Speaking on the occasion, PTI leader Shahbaz Gill said the government is giving special focus to bring improvements in the health and education sectors.

Zahid/Abid