GCU awards over Rs12m scholarships to 348 students

LAHORE

Government College University Endowment Fund Trust (GCUEFT) awarded scholarships worth Rs 12.29 million to the university's 348 financially-challenged students at the Annual Scholarship Distribution and Fundraising Dinner, 2016, at the university's Bukhari Auditorium. 

Prof Dr Zahir Ahmed Siddiqi, a distinguished professor and poet, who has recently donated all his lifetime savings, including worth Rs 140 million land, to the trust, was the chief guest at the ceremony which was also attended by the GCUEFT's donors.  

“These scholarships included 31 golden scholarships which covered the university fee and hostel expenses of students,” said GCUEFT Executive Committee Secretary Prof Dr Khalid Manzoor Butt while giving a presentation to the donors. He said that in 2009, they had awarded only Rs 200,000 scholarships to just five students. He also said more than 2,000 students applied for scholarships every year. 

Vice-Chancellor Prof Dr Hassan Amir Shah appreciated the untiring efforts of the GCUEFT executive committee members Iqbal Z Ahmed, Mian Misbah ur Rehman, Mian Muhammad Ashraf, Javaid Oberia, Zia Rizvi and especially Dr Khalid Maznoor Butt for the development of the university's fund which had now cash reserves of more than Rs 215 million. He explained that the endowment funds didn't spend the principal amount but the profit, they earned from it, was spent on scholarships and the university's development projects. Iqbal Z Ahmed made an announcement of establishing a 400-bed girl hostel for the university's students by the trust from the donations from the Old Ravians. However, he said, that the seed money of Rs 30 million had been allocated from the GCUEFT's profits for the project worth total Rs 200 million. Prof Zahir Siddiqi said, “To him, the biggest virtue in the contemporary world is to support education of financially-challenged students." He said if the philanthropists and Old Ravians supported the GCUEFT, the trust would be providing scholarships to all the needy students of the university in a few years. Even, the best use of Zakat is to spend it on the education of needy students, he said 

Mian Misbah-ur-Rahman said the culture and trends of supporting education and deserving students was developing in Pakistan.