Minister for Federal Education and Professional Training Rana Tanveer Hussain on Friday said that the Government was committed to facilitating the country’s youth to pursue their academic goals and play their role in national development. The Minister was addressing a distribution ceremony organised by Higher Education Commission (HEC) under the Prime Minister’s Electric Wheelchair Programme (Phase-III). On this occasion, 37 Electric Wheelchairs were distributed among the students of different universities. Rana Tanveer observed that differently-abled youth are very talented and have a great vision about progress in life. He said the Government has launched a number of initiatives under the Prime Minister’s Youth Programme as youth are the country’s asset. He stressed the need for ensuring maximum facilitation to the youth facing physical challenges. Chairman HEC Dr. Mukhtar Ahmed briefed the Minister on the implementation of various projects under the Prime Minister’s Youth Programme. He informed the Minister that HEC has collected data of physically challenged university students particularly those facing mobility issues, visual impairment, and hearing problems. He added that as the next stage of the scheme, these students will be provided with the gadgets and tools required. In her opening remarks, Executive Director HEC Dr. Shaista Sohail shed light on the background and status of the Prime Minister’s Electric Wheelchair Scheme. She said that the distribution of a total of 600 electric wheelchairs among students with different needs was planned in three phases of the scheme, launched in 2017. She said 206 electric wheelchairs were provided to students in the first phase, while 159 wheelchairs were handed over to students in the second phase. She maintained that in the ongoing last phase, 240 wheelchairs are to be provided to the students. On this occasion, wheelchair recipients also expressed their views and appreciated the Government and HEC for effectively implementing the Prime Minister’s Electric Wheelchair Scheme. Provincial edu minister pays visit to BZU: Interim Provincial Minister for Education, Mansoor Qadir, visited Bahauddin Zakariya University (BZU) here on Friday. Accompanied by provincial Secretary HED, Javed Akhter Mahmood, the minister was briefed about the ongoing projects in the varsity besides the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed by BZU and international varsities. Director ORIC, Dr Najum Ul Haq briefed the minister in depth on it and the different scholarships being offered to students. BZU VC, Dr Muhammad Ali Shah, Acting Registrar, Zubair Khan, Controller Examination, Dr Aman Ullah, Deans Dr Muhammad Uzair, Dr Saeed Akhtar, Dr Shaukat Malik and others were present. Speaking on the occasion, the education minister advised that all of us should perform our duties wholeheatedly. He stated that a varsity that was set up 50 years back has turned into the biggest varsity of the region. He urged that students who qualified in Saraiki should be given chances to serve because it is the Saraiki region adding that BZU faculty is capable of facing challenges being faced by the varsity. Later, he paid a visit to BZU Multan College of Arts and Food Science Institute. Earlier, the minister visited Multan University of Science and Technology. He inspected different departments and lauded the role of private institutions along with public sector organizations for meeting the goals of literary ratio and development of the country. Secretary HED, former federal secretary, M. Ali Gardezi, BZU VC, Dr M. Ali Shah and others accompanied the minister.