KARACHI: The Higher Education Commission (HEC) will provide 100 scholarships to graduates from Balochistan in law education, as the Central Development Working Party (CDWP) has approved the project worth Rs. 448.735 million.
Under the project, 50 five-year LLB and 10 LLM scholarships will be awarded to Baloch students to study in Pakistani universities, while 30 Baloch students will be sent abroad for LLM and 10 Baloch students to pursue PhD studies. In order to ensure fair execution of the project, HEC has constituted a steering committee comprising Executive Director, HEC, Provincial Secretary Education and representatives from Pakistan Bar Council, Quetta. The scholarships will be awarded on open merit to students of Balochistan who intend to opt for law as a profession.
In 2017, Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, Prime Minister, Islamic Republic of Pakistan had announced award of law scholarships during his visit to Balochistan in the wake of tragic terrorism incident of Civil Hospital, Quetta in 2016 which caused loss of 60 lawyers.
The incident had wiped out a whole generation of senior lawyers casting serious negative impact on the entire judicial system. It created a serious shortage of qualified lawyers in the province. Under the project, 15-20 per cent scholarships will be reserved for children from the families that had become victim of Civil Hospital, Quetta blast.