RAHIM YAR KHAN, Aug 4: Punjab government has allotted 125 acres of land for the construction of Rahim Yar Khan campus of the Islamia University, Bahawalpur, (IUB), while the Higher Education Commission has approved a Rs416 million grant for the project.

Director of the IUB’s local campus, presently being run in the building of Government Khwaja Fareed Degree College, Col Mehboob A Shah (retired) said this while briefing a delegation of IUB management staff which visited the campus here on Saturday. The delegation, comprising 23 officials, was led by IUB deputy registrar Noorul Islam Siddique and chief security officer Maj Jaffar (retired).

Col Shah said the PC–1 of the project had been completed. The project would be completed in two phases, within a period of three years, he added.

He said, however, the academic activities would be started after the completion of some parts of the new building to be constructed near Abu Dahbi Palace, 12 kilometres from the city. The government had established IUB’s local campus in 2005 to facilitate students of southern Punjab in acquiring higher education who previously had to go to Lahore, Bahawalpur and Multan for the purpose.

He said the local campus had four departments — Management Sciences, Computer Sciences, Education and Educational Training — where 500 students were being taught by more than 30 teachers. The hostel facility was also available for the male and female students and the teachers, he added.

He said after Aug 15, the admissions to the new session would be opened through one-window operation for 1,000 students.