KARACHI: The Sindh Assembly on Tuesday unanimously carried a resolution to accord university status to the historical Government College, Kali Mori, providing back an institute for higher studies to Hyderabad that had suffered the loss of a few universities following the creation of Jamshoro district in 2004.

Established in 1917, the Government College, Kali Mori, will complete its 100 years of excellence in October next year. Besides having its own buildings including a hostel, the college also has 20-acre land that can be used for its future expansion.

Through the resolution the Sindh Assembly met the longstanding demand of over 3.5 million people of Hyderabad to have a public sector university in their district because Sindh University and Liaquat University of Health and Medical Sciences are now in Jamshoro district.

The resolution, which was tabled by Muttahida Qaumi Movement lawmaker Engineer Sabir Hussain Kaimkhani, was part of the agenda of the Tuesday session which was a private members’ day.

Senior Minister of Education Nisar Ahmad Khuhro, responding to the resolution after a couple of speeches from MQM legislators, said the government was not opposed to the resolution as universities were inevitable for dispensing higher education.

“I have paid a visit to the college where work on restoration of its old buildings in original shape was in progress, being a heritage landmark for the posterity,” he said and informed the house that the government was considering to convert it into a degree-awarding institution.

Sindh Minister for Environment Dr Sikandar Mandhro suggested to the house that a bill be passed by the assembly to give university status to the GC Kali Mori.

The announcement was applauded by the house by thumping of desks, while MQM parliamentary party leader Syed Sardar Ahmad expressed gratitude to the Sindh government and the Pakistan Peoples Party for extending support to the resolution.

Earlier, MQM legislators Mr Ahmad, Mr Kaimkhani, Zubair Ahmad Khan, Rashid Khilji, Waqar Hussain Shah and Dr Zafar Kamali expressed their views on the resolution. They said every year 15,000 to 20,000 students passed Higher Secondary School Examination in Hyderabad but only one out of 100 students got admission to the Sindh University, Mehran Engineering University and Liaquat University of Medical and Health Sciences.

Like other historical colleges in Pakistan, the GC, Kali Mori, which would soon complete its 100 years, too, be given university status, they said, while citing the examples of Government College, Lahore; Islamia College, Peshawar; and Government College, Faisalabad.

The house also adopted a private resolution, which was tabled by Pakistan Muslim League-Functional lawmaker Nusrat Saher Abbasi, demanding timely provision of wheat bags to growers. The resolution also sought opening of wheat procurement centres.

Before adoption of the resolution, Minister for Food Syed Nasir Hussain Shah assured the house that steps were being taken to ensure fair distribution of bags. He added that there was bumper wheat crop (six million tonnes) this year and protested against the Pakistan Agriculture Storage and Service Corporation (Pasco) for not buying the due share of wheat from Sindh.

Earlier, PML-F lawmakers Mehtab Akbar Rashdi, Dr Rafique Bhanban and Nanad Kumar and PML-N’s Ismail Rahu spoke on the resolution. Sardar Nadir Ali Magsi of the PPP said the procurement rate be reduced to Rs1,200 to resolve the issue.

Condolence

Before the house was adjourned at 2.10pm till Friday morning by Speaker Agha Siraj Durrani, the house also carried a condolence resolution tabled by PPP-MPA Syed Sardar Ali Shah on the demise of legendary writer and poet Agha Saleem. The resolution stated the assembly expressed condolences on the death of Sindh’s eminent and legendary writer, novelist, poet Agha Saleem, who would always be remembered with love, affection and admiration.

Published in Dawn, April 13th, 2016