JAMMU: Nine-day long scholarship distribution carnival organised by Harbans Bhalla Educational Trust (HBET) concluded at a function held here on Sunday.
About 570 children received scholarships during the carnival in which 80 per cent of the children were girls hailing from rural and border areas.
On the occasion, Sahil Bagotra, KAS Officer was the Chief Guest, who told the students about the benefits of education and advised them to make full use of scholarship and support of the Trust. He also apprised the students of different schemes started by the government especially for the girl children.
Sham Lal Gupta, prominent businessman and philanthropist was the Guest of Honour. He praised the noble efforts of the Trust in helping the cause of education and also helping society at large to empower women.
Besides scholarship distribution, the students of classes 1st to 10th participated in assessment tests. The Trust also organised free dental and eye checkups of the students/parents on the occasion. Dr. Anju Jain, Dentist and Dr. S.P Sharma, eye surgeon rendered their voluntary services. Psychology majors from Jammu University provided counseling support on all nine days.
HBET has the mission to change lives of needy children through literacy support programmes. They have been providing scholarships and conducting various other child welfare schemes for the past 19 years. The children and parents came from villages like Samba, Garh Mandi, Saruinsar, Satrayan, Rehian, Gajansoo, Arnia, Tanda, Sunderbani, Sangrampur and Akalpur.
Selection tests for new students were also conducted of classes 1st to 3rd. Parents of needy and meritorious students of Government schools can apply to the trust for scholarship.