GUJRAT: The Punjab government has approved the establishment of a paramedical school, offering a two-year dialysis technician diploma course, at the Gujrat Kidney Centre here.

The approval has been granted by the Specialised Healthcare and Medical Education (SH&ME) department under its Punjab Medical Faculty programme.

Gujrat Kidney Centre was established as a public- private partnership (PPP) initiative back in 2016. The land for the centre, located in the middle of the city, was provided by the Red Crescent Society, while the funds for the construction of the facility were donated by local businessmen.

Since its establishment, the centre has been providing free dialysis services to the kidney patients from the region, with the financial assistance provided by local philanthropists. The capacity of the centre has been enhanced gradually with the installation of new dialysis machines, as well as a lithotripsy machine.

Kidney centre president Mian Muhammad Ijaz says given the acute shortage of dialysis technicians in the region, the matter was taken up with Gujrat DC Noorul Ain Qureshi, who recommended to the Punjab government’s health department to set up a paramedical school in Gujrat, particularly for the training of such professionals.

He says that formal approval to the DC’s proposal has been granted by the health department, adding that candidates with FSc (pre-medical) and matriculation (science) qualifications will be eligible for admission to paramedical school.

Mr Ijaz says that apart from getting employed at the Gujrat Kidney Centre, the passing out technicians will also get jobs abroad.

He says the school will soon become operational, as preparations are underway in this regard.

Moreover, it is learnt that on the DC’s recommendation, the Punjab government had also included Gujrat Kidney Center in the Chief Minister’s Dialysis Programme around three months ago.

The kidney centre’s management has also planned a liver centre in its building, offering free diagnostic tests, ultimately becoming a complete liver hospital in the future, Mr Ijaz adds.

Published in Dawn, July 20th, 2026