At least 270 students sent by the former government to China under the chief minister’s Chinese language programme have not received their monthly stipend as the amount has not been transferred to their accounts, reported local media.
Majority of the students lacking personal resources are facing starvation in the foreign land.
According to details, the students sent by the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) government under the Punjab CM’s Chinese language programme are facing hardships as they have not received their monthly stipend. The amount supposed to be released on the first and second of every month has still not been transferred to the accounts of the students.
A stipend of Rs50,000 is paid to the students studying in the two-year Chinese language programme funded by the Punjab government on a monthly basis. The government pays Rs0.6 million for every student on a yearly basis.
Officials maintained that 500 students from different universities of Punjab had been sent to universities in China more than a year ago to study Chinese language courses. Of them, at least 230 have returned to Pakistan after completing the language programme as they received the stipend regularly for two years. However, the remaining 270 students are still enrolled in the programme and are awaiting release of funds from the incumbent government.
