GUJRAT: The matter of granting status of university to the century-old Rasul College of Technology has been lingering on despite the Punjab government’s consistent claims of doing so.

Various committees comprising lawmakers, vice chancellors and senior government functionaries had been formed, but to no avail.

Another such announcement was made by Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif during his recent visit to Mandi Bahauddin’s Malakwal town last week at a large public gathering where he said he would soon return to lay the foundation stone of the technology university which has been a longstanding demand of the people of Gujranwala, Gujrat, Sargodha, Jhelum, Chakwal and Mandi Bahauddin.

Sources in the higher education department told Dawn that the issue of conversion had been handed over to the industries department that had prepared a charter for the grant of status and the charter had also been approved by the provincial cabinet. They added that draft of the charter had been sent to the Punjab Assembly for approval as an act that would be presented as soon as the House was convened.

Another source in the Punjab Higher Education Commission (PHEC) told Dawn that the Punjab government had planned to establish two technology universities in the province -- in Lahore and the other by converting Rasul college into university -- however Lahore had been given priority where it could be launched in March.

Three years ago, the provincial government had formed a committee comprising the then vice chancellor (VC) of University of Engineering and Technology Lahore, the former University of Gujrat VC, incumbent PHEC Chairman Prof Dr Nizamuddin and state minister Chaudhry Jaafar Iqbal Fatta Bhand.

An initial grant of Rs50 million for the purchase of equipment for labs had also been released by the provincial government at that time but the project could never be executed.

The case for grant of university status to the college first came to the fore in 1993 when the then chief minister Manzoor Ahmed Wattoo had awarded the status of district to Mandi Bahauddin and also pledged to upgrade the college. Since then successive governments have been making pledges in this regard.

Published in Dawn, January 29th, 2018