Under three year development plan eight billion rupees will be spent on the completion of different developmental and educational projects in the university: Prof. Dr. Ather Mahboob

Bahawalpur :Vice Chancellor of Islamia University, Bahawalpur Prof. Dr. Ather Mahboob has said that under three year development plan  billion rupees will be spent on the completion of different developmental and educational projects in the university. In an exclusive interview with Radio Pakistan Bahawalpur Correspondent Sajjad Parvez conducted for Radio Pakistan’s News and Current Affairs Channel’s Programme “Hot Line”, he said that under a comprehensive plan, this huge amount will be spent on the construction of five academic buildings, four hostels for male and female students, more than three hundred residential units for university’ staff, a dedicated auditorium and students services center during the next three years. The executive producer of this exclusive interview was Muhammad Tariq Chaudhry. He told that over one thousand, two hundred and seventeen million rupees have been allocated for development purpose in university’s current financial year’s budget. He said university’s department of plant breeding and genetics had successfully evolved three new cotton varieties of IUB-13, IUB-222 and MM-58 while continuing its research and soon will evolve another cotton variety IUB-4 which will be resistant to the cotton diseases including white fly and prove a source for the increase in per acre yield of cotton in the country. He further stated that three hundred million rupees are being spent for the provision of state of the art furniture across the university. Vice Chancellor Prof Dr Ather Mahboob said that the number of faculties have been increased from six to thirteen and department have also been increased from forty eight to one hundred and twenty three. He said for the first time in the university’s history, a record number of over twelve thousand students have been enrolled during the current educational year. He said Islamia University is playing very instrumental role for the promotion and provision of quality education at higher level through its three campuses situated in South Punjab’s three remote districts of Bahawalpur, Rahim Yar Khan and Bahawalnagar. He said that university is providing scholarships under various programs to the students including worth three hundred and eighty three million rupees through its own resources, two hundred and seventy three million rupees to over two thousand students under Prime Minister’s Ehsas Scholarship programme and scholarships worth sixty million rupees to eight hundred and ninety students under Higher Education Commission need based scholarships during the current financial year. He told that under an agreement with Pakistan Bait Ul Mal, scholarship worth twenty million rupees will be provided to two hundred students. He said university has also developed special Plasma App, which contains data of all patients who are willing to donate plasma to COVID patients keeping in view the importance of plasma for the treatment of COVID patients across the country, Similarly University has also prepared prototype of latest ventilator to be used for the treatment of COVID patients. He told that soon after his assuming the charge, he re-launched evening programmes in those disciplines which have been closed down some years ago so that more students can enroll in the university. He informed that for the first time in the Bahawalpur’s history, a three day literary and cultural festival has been organized in March this year in university for the promotion of arts, culture, literature, and other fields of performing arts in the Region which have been attended by galaxy of stars from different walks of life.