ISLAMABAD - Prime Minister's Youth Programme on Monday signed contract with Higher Education Commission (HEC) for supply and commissioning of 100,000 laptops to be distributed under PMYP.
The contract was signed at HEC secretariat and Anwar Amjad, director general information technology, HEC, and Zhang Le, international projects manager Haier Electrical Appliances Corp Ltd, signed the contract while Advisor to PMYP chairperson MNA Leila Khan also present on the occasion. Haier has won the contract through a competitive process conducted by HEC in which major manufacturers of laptops participated.
The programme aims at distribution of laptops among young and bright students studying in public sector higher education institutions across the country. The HEC is the executing agency responsible for developing criteria, mechanism, modalities and a roadmap for procurement and distribution of laptops under this programme. During 2013-14, 100,000 laptops will be distributed among students as per defined criteria.
Speaking on the occasion, the chief guest Leila Khan shared the vision of PML-N government for development of youth. She appreciated HEC for effectively managing the selection process for the laptop programme. She emphasised that it has been ensured that entire procedure of the laptop programme is transparent and that laptops will be distributed purely on merit.
Dr Mukhtar Ahmed, chairperson HEC, thanked the government for showing confidence in HEC for execution of the laptop programme. He appreciated the idea of the Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif for not only providing laptops to students but also bounding procuring agency to assemble laptops in Pakistan. He said that right from the start Transparency International has been involved so that nobody has any doubt on fairness of the whole process.
It may be mentioned here that Transparency International Pakistan has congratulated the prime minister for procurement of 100,000 laptops fully in accordance with PPRA rules. The whole process has been completed by HEC in a record time of 20 days.
Earlier, in his welcome address, Dr Mansoor Akbar Kundi, executive director HEC, said that the youth programme launched by the government is talent-centric, which is a source of inspiration for the young population of this country.