GUJRAT: The Punjab government has approved the first-ever public sector university in Gujranwala.According to Gujranwala Commissioner Naveed Sheerazi, the provincial cabinet has approved the establishment of the University of Gujranwala over a piece of land measuring 891 kanal along Dewan Road near Eimanabad.

He told Dawn the university would be established at a cost of Rs 4500 million (4.5 billion) as the project execution had been included in the Annual Development Programme of 2023-24. He said initially four faculties and 11 departments would be introduced.

Earlier, more than two decades ago, a sub-campus of Punjab University was set up at the GT Road in Gujranwala whereas a medical college had also been established by the last PML-N government in 2013-18.

Five other districts of the Gujranwala region have already been given universities, with Gujrat first among them in 2004, followed by universities in Narowal, Sialkot, Mandi Bahauddin and Hafizabad during the last one decade.

The people of Gujranwala have been demanding the establishment of a public sector university since long but the demand gained momentum following the foundation laying of the University of Hafizabad by the then prime minister Imran Khan a few years ago.

Published in Dawn, August 11th, 2023