Multan to have two more universities

The Federal government has decided to set up the first Women university and University of Engineering and Technology in Multan. President General Pervez Musharraf would lay the foundation stone of the institutions in April 2006, said District Co-ordination Officer Multan, Iftikhar Babur here on Thursday.
The DCO said that the Punjab government had directed him for initiating work on a PC-1 of the projects.
The proposed Women university would sprawl over 27 acres of land near Chak 14-Faiz, and Rs 300 million budget had been estimated for the establishment of the new campus to be completed in one-and-a-half year after the execution of the work, he added.
The DCO said that the ratio of girls students in the Bahauddin Zakariya University was about 54 percent and at least four girls share a single room of the hostel despite the fact that the varsity is spread over an area of 1,000 acres of land. He said they still complain about the lack of space.
He said eight MA classes would be started at the new campus of the university, equipped with hostel, sports and other recreational facilities. The present Girls Degree College would be declared a city campus of the new university, he added.
Academicians have welcomed the establishment of the university but they were of the view that very small piece of land had been allocated for the varsity, which they believe would be disappointing to the area people.
"It's ridiculous to establish a university on 27 acres of land, while girls at BZU have already been facing inadequacy of space," they said.
The academicians said the present site for the establishment of the university was far away from Multan City and it would require additional facilities and infrastructure. About 10,000 girls were getting education at the fully packed Kutchery Road Girls Degree/Postgraduate College and complain of inadequate space and lack of basic facilities there.
The present building can accommodate around 4,000-5,000 students.
Apart from this parents have also complained about shortage of buses for carrying their children from far-flung destinations to the college.
The British government had constructed Emerson College for Boys 150 years ago, which was later converted into a government girls' degree college on September 1, 1947. It was the first girls Degree College, which was established soon after the creation of Pakistan.