Standard Chartered Bank yesterday awarded scholarships to 100 poor intellectually-disabled students of five schools in Dhaka as part of its corporate social responsibility.

Each student received Tk 3,000 to Tk 5,000 in one-off funds to pay tuition fees for school for a year.

AB Mirza Azizul Islam, former finance adviser to the caretaker government, handed the scholarships at a programme organised by the Bankers' Forum, a welfare organisation, at the Cirdap auditorium in the capital.

He urged all corporate bodies to help the helpless and underprivileged disabled students for the benefit of the country.

“Disabled students are the integral part of the society. We should help them. I wish them great success."

Standard Chartered is giving education scholarships and medical facilities to the poor as part of its efforts to develop the country, said Bitopi Das Chowdhury, head of corporate affairs of the bank.

The other corporate institutions should come up with the same initiative like StanChart to help such students, she said.

“We are working to facilitate the poor and intellectually-disabled students,” said MA Khaleque, president of Bankers' Forum. “We have given donation to all schools of the disabled students in Dhaka,” he said.

“We need to nurture

the poor and the meritorious disabled students, because today's students will be the valuable asset for the country."

News: The Daily Star/Bangladesh/16th-Dec-12