Punjab Government’s Education Scholarship for Religious Minorities 2020.

Govt. of Punjab announces scholarship for Non-Muslim students i.e. Christians, Hindus, Sikh, Parsi & others studying in Schools from Matric to Higher Education to PHD belonging to minority groups may avail this scholarship. Fixed yearly stipend shall be given to the selected deserving students belonging to Minority Groups. Last date to apply for the scholarship is March 02, 2020. 

Eligibility Criteria for Minorities Scholarships

Minority’s students who are the regular student of the government institute are eligible for the scholarship.

Students who are studying in Government institutes in Punjab or Federal Government institutes in Punjab territory. 

Students having domicile of the Punjab.

Must have scored at least 50% marks in the last examination. 

Family’s Monthly income should not exceed PKR: 29,450/-

Minorities groups Scholarship Stipend:

Degree program	Yearly Stipend
Professional education (MBBS, DVM,BDS,B.Sc, P ham-D, Ph.D)	50,000/-
Postgraduate Level (M.A, M.Sc, M.Com, MCS/MBA, M.Phil, LL.M etc)	35,000/-
B.A/B.Sc/B.B.A/B.Com(2&3 years degree & Honours le. 4 years degree) LLB	30,000/-
F.A/F.Sc/I.Com/A level/ DAE or equivalent	20,000/-
Metric/O Level or Equivalent	10,000/-

This is definitely good news and certainly some relief to the deprived Christian community in Punjab province. On behalf of Christians in Punjab we’re thankful to Govt. of Pakistan & Punjab for realizing this need to uplift deprived communities and addressing the situation of religious minorities especially Christians in Pakistan who are deliberately pushed and steered towards becoming the lowest segment of society.

Similar to this initiative we now expect & demand from Govt. of Pakistan to replicate this education support for religious minorities in other three provinces as well i.e. KPK, Sindh & Balochistan.  Additionally we need practical measures of harmony and suitable working environment for educated Christians serving in Govt. & Private sectors as well.

National & Provincial level Department of Religious Affairs & Harmony must initiate practical measures to eliminate discriminatory hatred against Christians & Hindus who are addressed & believed as untouchables, as well provide suitable social environment to a common citizen belonging to religious minorities during day to day affairs for survival in difficult economic situation.

So far this education support program for religious minorities is more than welcome and much needed. Hopefully other key issues shall be addressed & resolved as well. For this one, Pakistan Zindabaad! 

Kamyab Jawan Programme: 200,000 to 300,000 youth likely to get loans under YES

Christians & Other Religious Minorities Religious & Political representatives must follow up and list down the minority's young candidates who applied & yet to benefit from Government's Youth Loan Scheme to assess the claims of transparency and slogans of equal opportunities for Christians & other Religious Minorities in Pakistan .  

On various news channels and social media sites it is stated that around 200,000 to 300,000 budding entrepreneurs are likely to get benefit under the Youth Entrepreneurship Scheme (YES), a component of the government’s flagship Kamyab Jawan project launched to offer soft loan facility to those having workable business ideas.

“Only 15 to 25 per cent of the total applicants may get the concessionary loans under the ‘YES’ as it seems that some 50 to 60 per cent apparently are going to be rejected, ” Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Youth Affairs Usman Dar informed while highlighting the current statistics of the loan scheme.

YES was launched under the banner of Kamyab Jawan Programme in October last year under which Rs 100 billion allocated for the youth and loans ranging from Rs 100,000 to Rs 5 million is to be disbursed among the youth coming up with practicable business ideas.

“Some 1.3 million youth applied for the loan scheme in merely 15 days which brings it into international spotlight as a team of the United Nations has discussed this Kamyab Jawan programme for attracting such a large proportion of youth.” 

The scheme is almost in the launching process as the applications are being scrutinized and verified by making phone calls, doing Smart Message Service (SMS) and carrying out a third party verification of the applicants.

Government claims that the allocated money belongs to youth and would be spent on deserving ones. He said the loans would be distributed on equitable basis as Rs. 25 billion had been dedicated for the women under YES exclusively.

Initially, the soft loans would be distributed in Sindh and then extended to the other provinces,“Prime Minister Imran Khan will distribute loan cheques among the successful applicants of the Youth Entrepreneurship Scheme (YES) from Sindh on January 27th.”

I'm aware that many young boys & girls belonging to Christians & Other Religious Minorities communities also got excited and applied for loans in this scheme. As per procedure they also received SMS on their cell numbers which stated that soon related banks are going to contact them. But so far none of the ones i know received any phone call from related bank or government's loan officer. 

Therefore i urge Religious & Political representatives belonging to Christians & Other minority communities in Pakistan to gather information and list down total number of minority's youth who applied for loans and received confirmation messages and keep an eye on the  fact that how many are going to be included among the final beneficiaries.   

Let's wait for the outcome and see how Government implements this program. 

District Bar Association Multan's Resolution against Religious Minorities.

Multan Punjab, Pakistan: In yet another example of subjugation of minorities in Pakistan, Multan Bar Association passed a resolution which forbids non-Muslim lawyers including Christians to participate in the Bar council elections in the city, local media reported.

Source: Roznama Jang, Pakistan

The resolution was presented by the lawyers of District Bar Association of Multan. It stated that the lawyers contesting bar elections will also need to submit an affidavit to prove their faith in Islam, District Bar Association of Multan must be questioned and condemned locally and globally for passing this resolution.

This resolution reflects the fruits of the last 50 years education syllabus & social teachings that is now being practiced in Pakistan. It is a reality that Christians, Hindus, Sikhs & Other religious minorities are portrayed as villains and aliens who does not belong here & deserve no development and progress in Pakistan.

It is also a fact that over the years the deliberate distortion of history has eliminated the social respect & overall contribution of Christians community’s role during the independence movement and their role in development in various segments including education, health & defense for Pakistan e.g. the key role of Dewan Bahadur S.P Singhna & Other Christian politicians who casted decisive votes for Punjab to be included in Pakistan is unknown to a common citizen belonging to majority population.

I personally am witness of the fact that at grassroots level no common citizen belonging to majority population knows about the names or role of Christians during Pakistan’s independence & no one knows the names of Christian martyrs who heroically fought and gave their lives for Pakistan during wars against neighbor country, nobody admits or realizes the Christian contribution in the field of health, education and defense of Pakistan.  

This resolution passed by District Bar Association, Multan reflects the religious racism and hatred by well educated group. Imagine how less educated groups treat Christians in Punjab, Pakistan. Christians are considered unclean and are highly discouraged to run any small business such as grocery stores, small food points, vegetable stalls and no one buys from them due to this religious hatred and bias approach and if a Christian tries to establish any selling point it fails miserably.    

Due to similar approach as this passed resolution Christians are deliberately steered towards jobs of sewage workers and the Christians who are educated and skilled serving in sectors such as Lawyers, Doctors, Nurses, Teachers etc. face harsh social & systematic discrimination and are deliberately denied progress opportunities that are announced at Government & Private sector.

In 2019, I Personally am a witness of a complete case study of a well educated, skilled Christian Nurse who was systematically victimized by authorities at Nishtar Hospital Multan during the Nursing BSN deputation opportunity announced by Punjab Government in 2019.

She qualified the merit & passed the entry test and was not included in the final list because in 2018 she stood for her right of Christian faith to conduct memorial service of her late mother, Hospital administration proved their religious hatred by comments such as that,” they don’t allow leave for memorial services” and did not allow her 3 day leave for conducting her late mother’s memorial service prayer meetings. She had positive leave balance in her record as per Government policy but she was marked absent and suffered salary deduction.

She was not allowed leave for memorial service in 2018 because back in 2014 she stood for her right to save her daughter during pregnancy as hospital authority denied her the right to avail leave when her doctor advised her rest for few days due to pregnancy complications. She had positive leave balance in her record as per Government policy but she was marked absent and suffered salary deduction.

That’s how educated and skilled working class Christians are treated by Government authorities in Pakistan targeted with Hatred & systematic Discrimination!

Majority population of Punjab & Multan must step up and condemn this act of District Bar Association Multan’s passed resolution which is based upon religious hatred.

Christians have contributed a great deal in education and health sector of Multan & Southern Punjab with existing examples such as Lasalle School Systems, Christian Hospitals, BHUs and especially during natural disasters of 2010 floods the local and global Christians stormed in & helped majority population through relief, rehab initiatives and monetary aid.

Unfortunately the common person belonging to majority population is never told about the local and global Christian contribution and Christian aid that Pakistan receives on daily basis which needs to be shared officially with common public by Federal & Provincial Governments to enhance the mutual respect among religions.

Common Pakistani citizens must be told what Christians have done for them during last 70 years and what Christians are doing for them to stand on their feet for next 70 years.

If possible the Operation Rud-Al-Fasad must step up against the responsible individuals for passing such resolutions especially in Punjab for damaging the one nation vision & theory that Quaid-E-Azam M.A Jinnah gave Pakistan in his speeches.

Let’s wait and see but let’s not raise our expectations & brainstorm the long term solution for the future of Christian children in subcontinent.