LAHORE: Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi has announced a donation of Rs50 million on behalf of the federal government to the Government College University Endowment Fund Trust (GCU-EFT).

PM Abbasi was the chief guest at the Annual Fundraising Dinner at the university late on Sunday, while Governor Rafique Rajwana and GCU Vice Chancellor Prof Dr Hassan Amir Shah were also present.

The Old Ravians and philanthropists donated about Rs15 million to the fund for scholarships to university’s underprivileged students.Lahore High Court’s (LHC) Justice Farrukh Irfan Khan, an Old Ravian, also donated Rs5 million to the fund on his behalf and his family.

Addressing the ceremony, eminent industrialist Iqbal Z. Ahmed sought government approval for establishing a business school at the Government College University in the name of his parents.He announced that he and his business group would donate $5 million for the school and that the income from the business school would go to the GCU-EFT.

Prof Shah said the campus, built for a few hundred students almost 15 decades ago, now housed more than 12,000 students, faculty and staff members. He requested the prime minister and governor to fast track allocations from Higher Education Commission and Punjab government for establishment and completion of the university’s new campus at Kala Shah Kaku.

GCU-EFT Executive Committee Secretary Prof Dr Khalid Maznoor Butt said the trust had awarded scholarships worth Rs12.5 million to 550 underprivileged students of the university during the current year.

Old Ravians and philanthropists, including eminent radiologist Prof Dr Safdar A. Malik, Mr Aminul Qadri, Sadia Rafique, Mian Asad Bashir, Mr Saeed Bux, retired Brig Dabeer Rizvi, Javaid Habib Oberoi, Ahsan Saeed Mian and some private banks gave donations to the trust at the event.

Published in Dawn, May 15th, 2018