The federal government has allocated Rs. 59,700 million under the Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP) for the ongoing and new schemes of the Higher Education Commission (HEC) during the fiscal year 2023-24. According to the budget document issued here on Friday, around Rs. 52,800 million has been earmarked for the ongoing schemes and Rs 6,900 million for the new schemes. Among the ongoing schemes, an amount of Rs. 1,500 million has been allocated for the Award of Allama Muhammad Iqbal 3000 Scholarships to Afghan students (PM’s Directive), while Rs. 500 million each for the development of the Main Campus Bacha Khan University Charsadda, and the development of the University of Buner at Swari (Phase-I). However, Rs. 500 million has also been earmarked for the establishment of Dr Ashfaq Ahmad Khan Centre in basic sciences, and Rs. 500 million for the establishment of University College at Zhob (BUITEMS) (to be revised). Similarly, Rs. 1000 million each has been reserved for Fulbright Scholarships Support Programme HEC-USAID (Phase-III), and Innovative Center and Software Park at the University of Engineering & Technology Sub Campus Lahore(Revised). The government has also earmarked Rs. 3,235 million for Overseas Scholarship for MS/M.Phil leading to Ph.D. in selected fields (Phase III)-HEC. A hefty amount of Rs. 3,000 million has been allocated for Ph.D. Scholarship Programme under the Pak-US Knowledge Corridor (Phase-I)-(Revised), whereas an amount of Rs. 800 million is reserved for Strengthening and Expansion of the University of Gujrat (UN) and Allied Campuses (Revised). The government has also earmarked Rs 740.902 for the strengthening of Core Network & Expansion of PERN footprints through CPEC Optical Fiber (PERN-III)-HEC. Rs 1500 million has been allocated for the construction of the National Sports City (NSC) at Narowal. Among new schemes, the government has allocated Rs. 1,200 million for strengthening lab facilities in five leading Engineering Universities (UET Peshawar, Taxila, Lahore, Khuzdar & NED Karachi). However, Rs. 500 million each is reserved for the provision of higher education opportunities for students of Balochistan and FATA (Phase-III), and the enhancement of academic facilities at NED University of Engineering & Technology, Karachi. Similarly, Rs. 500 million has been allocated for the establishment of the Institute of Sports (under process).