Karwan-e-Ilm Foundation (KIF) was registered in 2004 as a not-for-profit organization by the management of one of the most renowned monthly magazine “Urdu Digest”, Lahore. Since 1960, Urdu Digest has been serving to strengthen the ideology of Pakistan and promoting national integration. Likewise, the purpose of this organization was to Save & Promote Resource Less Talent of Pakistan. The journey started on the invitation of Dr. Aijaz Hussain Qureshi (Late), in which more than 20 renowned and eminent personalities from different walks of life came forward and participated in first formal meeting on November 15, 2003 and decided to establish Karwan-e-Ilm foundation as a not-for-profit organization for a Nobel cause.
The following members were selected as First Office Bearers of KIF:
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| President | Mr. SM Zafar | Law Professional |
| Senior Vice President | Mr. HS Hashmi (Late) | Business Professional |
| Vice President |
Mr. Syed Ihsan Ullah Waqas | Educationist |
| Secretary General | Dr. Aijaz Hussain Qureshi (late) | Educationist and Journalist |
| Secretary Finance |
Mr. Usama Mazhar Qureshi | Business Professional |
| Member | Mr. Mujib ur Rahman Shami | Journalist |
| Member | Mr. Altaf Hussain Qureshi | Journalist |
| Member | Dr. Ameen Ullah Waseer | Author and Islamic Scholar |
| Member | Mr. Jahangir A. Jhojah | Lawyer |
| Member | Mr. Chaudhry Fazal Hussain Akhtar | Business Professional |
| Member | Mr. Nadeem Shafiq | Business Professional |
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KIF has been providing financial assistance to deserving talented students who secure more than 75% marks in Matric and Intermediate Examinations irrespective of color, creed, caste, or region they come from and are pursuing education in professional and higher academic institutions in the fields of Sciences, Technology, Engineering, Medical, Management, Commerce, Social Sciences, and Agriculture.
The procedure to obtain financial assistance is designed to be very simple and fast. The students meeting the required criteria used to send their applications directly to KIF stating the financial condition of the family along with copies of their testimonials. They are issued a form to provide details of their educational attainments, stipend obtained from other organizations and required financial assistance. But KIF has now signed MOUs with more than 100 institutes over the last few years and now applicants have to send their applications through their educational institutes.
The given information is verified by the Head of the Educational Institution and through other reliable sources maintaining self-respect of the applicant. In granting financial assistance, the first priority is given to handicaps, second to orphans and third to the offspring of primary teachers.
KIF is the only organization in Pakistan who facilitate needy but brilliant students in providing them with tuition fees, hostel fees, mess charges, transportation costs, book and study material expenses etc. A separate project is being run for the widow mothers and old ailing parents of these students to provide coverage for medication and routine expenses.
KIF was the first ever organization of Pakistan to hold an award distribution ceremony on national level for the appreciation and encouragement of talented Position Holders (Boys & Girls) in Matric from 25 Boards of Secondary Education of Pakistan both in Science and Humanities groups. The main purpose to hold such ceremony at the Matriculation level was to make these budding students realize that the nation highly appreciates their outstanding achievements.
The first Matric Awards Ceremony was held in 2002 and it is followed every year. In 2006, the Chief Guest of the ceremony, Mr. Shaukat Aziz then Prime Minister of Pakistan distributed cash rewards among 253 students in recognition of their high performance. This gathering provided them with a unique opportunity of national cohesion and understanding as 500 young students, parents and teachers from different areas of the country stayed together for two days and exchanged their views freely.
The KIF remains in contact with Scholarship recipients to monitor their educational activities including results of monthly tests, semester/annual examination and attendance percentages. These students are provided character building material to develop habit of reading.
KIF started this noble cause from a mere 10 thousand rupees only but now more than 10 million rupees have been distributed among the students. This example set by the KIF has been appreciated and followed by then Chief Minister (CM) Punjab, Mr. Shahbaz Sharif, who took this initiative in 2008.
Since then, the Punjab government has not only started providing scholarships to talented needy students but have also recognized their achievements by providing awards and cash prizes.
For details of scholarships, please click on the link below