RAWALPINDI: The Punjab government has approved the establishment of a university campus in Murree and a process has been started to allocate land for the project.

This was stated by Acting Commissioner Talat Mehmood Gondal at a meeting held to review the arrangements for the establishment of the campus in Murree. Fatima Jinnah Women University Vice Chancellor Dr Samina Amin Qadir, Assistant Commissioner Murree Arifullah Awan, Director Colleges Malik Asghar and representatives of the Higher Education Commission were also present.

A senior official of the district administration told Dawn that Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi had asked the provincial government to make arrangements for the establishment of the campus of any major university in Murree.

He said the federal government would provide funds and the Punjab government would arrange land for the project. However, the provincial government is yet to select the university which would open its campus in Murree.

He said the federal government wanted to establish the campus of Fatima Jinnah Women University or Quaid-i-Azam University. Discussions in this regard were underway with the representatives of main universities.

He said some universities had objections as they were of the view that the population of the resort town was not enough for the campus.

The acting commissioner said the government wanted to establish the campus in Murree so that the students would get higher education at their doorsteps. He said students, especially girls from small villages, faced problems in pursuing higher education in Islamabad and Rawalpindi.

“A survey for the selection of the site for the campus has started. The survey report would be presented to the Punjab government as soon as possible,” he said.

Assistant Commissioner Arifullah Awan presented three to four sites for the establishment of the campus. However, the acting commissioner asked him to carry out the survey in collaboration with the HEC.

He said the site should be easily accessible to students and have all the utility services.

Published in Dawn, November 1st, 2017