HYDERABAD: Sindh Minister for Education Pir Mazharul Haq has said that the scope of endowment fund for poor and talented students has been expanded from eight to 23 private universities and the amount of the fund will be increased from Rs2 to Rs4 billion by the end of this year.
He was talking to the media in Qasimabad here on Tuesday where he had arrived to offer condolence to journalist Sarfaraz Vistro on the death of his father.

Mr Haq said that the provincial government had deposited Rs2 billion of endowment fund in a commercial bank out of which Rs40 million were being earned as profit per year for distribution among poor but talented students of different universities as scholarships.

He said that the services of former governor of State Bank Dr Ishrat Hussain and renowned economist Dr Jahangir Siddiqui were being acquired by the government for efficient utilisation of the fund and getting maximum rate of profit from the principal amount of the fund.

He said that due to unawareness, many talented but poor students could not receive endowment fund scholarships therefore they had planned to organise scholarship cheques` distribution ceremonies to create awareness among students and ensure transparency in utilisation of fund.Answering a question, the minister said that the principal amount of Rs2 billion for endowment fund would be doubled by the end of this year so that maximum number of students could receive scholarships.Dawn