The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) announced the winners of the art competition for the new note series and the competition was dominated by women. According to the results of the competition, five banknotes that stood first were designed by women, while six out of 10 banknote designs that were declared successful were created by women. Rs10, Rs100, Rs500, Rs1,000 and Rs5,000 banknotes were designed by women while the Rs20 and Rs50 notes were designed by men. State Bank has felicitated the winners and participants of the art competition. The runner-up Rs500 note was also designed by a female artist, while the runner-up Rs10 and Rs5,000 notes were created by male artists. Most designers have included the founder of Pakistan, Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah, in their versions of the notes, some have also included images of Fatima Jinnah, known as the ‘Mother of the Nation’. Dr Sherry Abidi bagged the first position for Rs10 note, while Mirza Sufian was second for designing the same currency note.

Similarly, Haroon Khan won the first prize for designing Rs20 note while Syed Fawad Hussain was adjudged the winner for designing the best Rs50 note. The first position of Rs500 notes was given to Hadiya Hasan and Aini Zahra stood second. Similarly, Noreen Aslam's Rs1,000 note art won the first position in the competitions. In the note competition, only one designer, Maimoona Afzal, won for two designs. The second prize in the Rs5,000 note category has been awarded to Karim Muhammad. The winning designs in the art competition are emblematic, selected after careful evaluation by a committee of experts, considering cultural heritage and progressive thinking. The winning banknotes will be sent to international experts who will design the new State Bank series. The experts will use the winning designs as a guide but will be free to design the banknotes.

Credit: Independent News Pakistan