Sindh Minority Affairs Department, on Monday, invited applications for grant of merit scholarships to eligible students of the minority communities for the educational year 2022-23. The Sindh Minister for Minority Affairs Giyanchand Essarani, in a statement issued here, said that scholarships would be awarded to higher secondary school, college and university students. He said that on the special instructions of PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari the funds for scholarships have been substantially increased in the current year as compared to the previous year. In the year 2021-22, as many as 3284 students were awarded scholarships which included 2044 students of universities and 1240 students of colleges, he said adding that measures were being taken to ensure distribution of the scholarships by end of the current financial year. He informed that scholarships would be awarded purely on merit basis and for the first time third-party services have been acquired to ensure transparency in the scholarship process. The scholarships would be awarded to meritorious students belonging to minority communities through IBA Sukkur, the minister said and informed the students that application forms for the scholarships could be downloaded from the website of IBA Sukkur and the dully filled in application forms to be submitted to the IBA Sukkur by April 30, 2023.