CHAKWAL: “I promise you that I will give you a new hospital and also establish a university in Chakwal, besides fixing the issues of sewerage and drinking water within one year, if we are voted into power,” said Shahbaz Sharif three days before the general elections 2013.

After hearing these promises, the crowd, gathered at the railway ground, cheered. Three days after the public rally, Shahbaz Sharif’s party, the Pakistan Muslim League (PML-N), swept the polls in Chakwal by winning all six seats - two in the National Assembly and four in the Punjab Assembly.

Later, Iffat Liaquat and Mehwish Sultana also became MNA and MPA, respectively, on the reserved seats for women while retired Lt Gen Abdul Qayyum was elected as a senator. Now Chakwal has nine parliamentarians while it is the third year of Shahbaz Sharif’s party in power.

However, the establishment of a university and a new hospital remains a dream for Chakwal while the problems of sewerage and drinking water are also unresolved.

The district of Chakwal, with a population of 1.6 million, has 53 colleges - 20 in the public and 33 in private sector - where 16,194 students are currently enrolled. Every year, more than 16,000 students get admission to the colleges.

However, after completing their college education, only a few are able to enter a university while the rest are forced to abandon their education. Students having no other option take admission to the Government Postgraduate College Chakwal or private colleges in the district.

“Chakwal direly needs a university as most of its students are unable to get university education from other cities such as Islamabad, Rawalpindi or Lahore.

Most female students who pass their graduation cannot take admission to a university in any other city due to many problems,” says a senior faculty member at Government Postgraduate College.

MNA Tahir Iqbal and Senator Abdul Qayyum are trying to get a university for the district. Their efforts have rekindled a ray of hope among the people of Chakwal as the Punjab government has allocated Rs900 million in its current Annual Development Programme (ADP) for the establishment of a sub-campus of Punjab University in Chakwal.

But it is feared that the amount would lapse as the politicians and officials have yet to decide whether the proposed sub-campus should be established at a separate site or on the premises of the Government Postgraduate College.

Sources told Dawn that MNA Tahir Iqbal wanted to establish the sub-campus at a separate site for which a vast tract of land would have to be acquired while Senator Qayyum was in favour of starting the sub-campus on the premises of the postgraduate college where it is bound to invite resistance from the college faculty members.

The faculty members, who thwarted the plan of establishment of a sub-campus of Gujrat University a year ago, have their own reservations.

“They fear about their own future because if the proposed sub-campus is set up on the premises of the college and the college is merged into the sub-campus of Punjab University, what would be the future of current faculty members? Whether they would be taken as faculty members by the Punjab University or would be transferred to other public sector colleges of the province,” said a professor of the college.

But Professor Aziz Minhas, the president of Punjab Professors and Lecturers Association’s local chapter, who is also the head of the history department at the Government Postgraduate College, was of the view that the college would lose its status if the sub-campus was set up on its premises.

“We are not against the establishment of the sub-campus but believe that there is a dire need for a university in Chakwal.”

He said he and his colleagues would not have any reservation if the college was turned into an accredited university such as the Government College Lahore.

“A sub-campus on the premises of the college would deprive hundreds of students of their right to financially affordable education. The college itself is running short of classrooms and other facilities. Its current library hall is unable to accommodate the students,” another faculty member said.

In his feasibility report about establishing the sub-campus of Punjab University in Chakwal, Deputy Director Colleges Professor Nasir Mehmood Awan wrote that the region direly needed the sub-campus of Punjab University to cater to the growing number of students.

Talking to Dawn, Mr Awan supported the establishment of the sub-campus on the premises of Government Postgraduate College. “If a sub-campus of a prestigious university is established at the college, it would be an honour for Chakwal,” he said.

“The college land is an ideal site for setting up of the sub-campus of Punjab University,” he added.

Senator Abdul Qayyum was also of the view that the sub-campus should be set up on the premises of the college.

“To acquire a separate land for the sub-campus will take time. Therefore, I think we should not waste the released fund of Rs900 million and utilise it for starting the sub-campus on the premises of the college. Later, the sub-campus can be shifted to a separate site,” he maintained.

On the other hand, MNA Tahir Iqbal, who played a major role in getting the approval of the sub-campus, said the campus should be set up at a separate place.

“I want to get a state-of-the-art university campus built in Chakwal for which 75 acres of land is required. I have selected some sites also,” he told Dawn.

“The sub-campus cannot be set up on the premises of the college as the college is surrounded by the city and would not be able to accommodate a large number of students.”

Published in Dawn, September 28th , 2015

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