Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Thursday announced a Rs500 million endowment fund for the National History and Literary Heritage Division.
The prime minister, while addressing a literary conference in Islamabad, expressed hope that the four-day moot would take into account challenges currently facing Pakistan, especially terrorism and propose solutions to tackle the menace.
“This conference will deliberate on how, through educational and literary activities, extremism and intolerance can be addressed.”
“Thousands of people and innocent children have been lost to such ills. We want to cleanse this country of terrorism and make it a place of peace, love and calm.”
“The present government has faced this situation, and our army was professional in making Pakistan a safer place to live,” he said, adding that while Operation Zarb-i-Azb is ongoing, there is also a need for Operation ‘Zarb-i-Qalm’ to confront these challenges.
Literary institutions have a pivotal role to play in tackling these challenges, he said, and the government is trying to revive such institutions.
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said his government created a full-fledged division of National History and Literary Heritage under the leadership of Irfan Siddiqui. He has been given full powers assigned the task of reviving literary and cultural organisations.
The Prime Minister called for concrete steps for preservation of the national history and literary heritage and its transfer to next generation. He said modern tools including thematic books, special television programmes and Information Technology should be used to realise this objective.
He said it has also been decided to enhance scholarship for writers and poets substantially. About one thousand writers and poets would benefit from the scheme. Similarly, it has also been decided to increase awards for Urdu and regional languages from the existing 11 to 20. A literary award in the name of Intizar Hussain would also be institution carrying prize money of one million rupees.
The Prime Minister said the insurance scheme would now cover 700 writers and artists instead of 354 at present and the premium would be paid by the government.
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif asked Irfan Siddiqui to constitute a committee to recommend welfare measures for arts of different disciplines. The Committee should submit its report within a month.
