|            | 
    
      | Dubai, Feb 28 : Expatriate Indians based in Saudi Arabia have  launched a new forum to promote education and literacy among the poor and the  underprivileged in Bihar and Jharkhand.The Association for Humanitarian Services and Solidarity (AHSAS) will  focus on assisting poor students and checking dropouts by helping them continue  with their studies. 
 
 |  |  "AHSAS is committed to serve the underprivileged people in  India in general and people living in the eastern states of Bihar and Jharkhand  in particular," AHSAS president Wakil Ahmed said at the launch ceremony.
 There are over 1.7 million Indians in Saudi Arabia and over 100,000 of them are  from Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal.
 
 The forum has started off with three programmes.
 
 The first is to sponsor teachers in a school, which the forum said would be  expanded to cover more schools.
 
 The second is to sponsor needy and underprivileged students in Bihar and  Jharkhand and the third is to provide scholarships to meritorious students in  the rural areas of Bihar.
 
 "Education is the key to a meaningful life but is often denied in our  society. Whatever the gender, caste, creed or religion, we at AHSAS are  committed to raise awareness, help eradicate illiteracy, spread education and  to provide support to the needy," the forum's mission statement said.
 (IANS) |    
   |