RAWALPINDI, Dec 19: Governor Lt-Gen Khalid Maqbool (retired) here on Thursday said he would ask the Punjab government to enhance the annual grant for the University of Arid Agriculture (UAA).

Speaking at the third convocation of the varsity, he asked the government to look into the possibility of increasing the capacity for admissions to the varsity’s information technology programme. The governor was informed that about 3,200 students apply in the university’s IT programme, but due to limited arrangements only a couple of hundred could be accommodated.

Responding to the vice-chancellor’s demand for research farms, he said the provincial government had permitted the university to use Fatehjang agriculture station for research purposes. The university, he said, would enjoy complete access to the station and notification to this effect would be issued in a couple of days.

Earlier speaking at the convocation, the vice-chancellor, Dr Khalid Mehmood, in his welcome speech, said the university had not been able to acquire research farms despite Gen Maqbool’s orders, which he gave during his previous visit to the university few months ago.

Discussing the financial constraints of the university, he said he had failed to convince the provincial finance department that the annual grant for the university was extremely insufficient and needed to be enhanced.

Mr Mehmood said he had been unable to provide safe crossing to the students in the form of an overhead bridge. This, he said, was particularly important as the varsity had a split campus and the students had got to frequently cross the busy Murree Road.

It should be recalled that the vice-chancellor had presented this request during the governor’s previous visit to the university, but had been turned down as the district government was of the view that construction of an overhead bridge would be an unfeasible option.

Listing his achievements, Mr Mehmood said his faculty had been able to get Rs35.374 million in the shape of competitive research grants from various donor agencies. During last year, the faculty got 140 of their research papers published in journals.

Initiation of the MSc programme is the agri business management, he said, was one of the other few outstanding achievements of the university.

APP ADDS: The Punjab governor, Lt-Gen Khalid Maqbool (retired), said the government would establish new agriculture colleges in the province to promote the sector.