LOWER DIR: Students and their parents have demanded of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government and authorities of the Higher Education Department (HED) to take notice of the dilapidated condition of the Government Postgraduate College (GPC) Timergara.

Talking to local journalists here on Monday, they said the 12-room college building, constructed in 1969, posed serious threats to human lives which had been declared dangerous several years ago by the department concerned.

The students complained that two buses of the college had been out of order for the last two years while students had no alternate means of transportation. They said the college was being run in double shifts due to the increasing number of male and female students of 17 disciplines. They said that hundreds of students were denied enrollment this year due to lack of accommodation.

Meanwhile an official of the GPC told Dawn on contact that more than 3500 students including 1600 females were enrolled in the college. He said that BS classes in the nearby government girls’ degree college Balambat had not started to decrease burden on the GPC.

The students said that the number of girl students increased with each passing year despite the fact that the college was established only for boys. They demanded of the HED to launch BS classes at the government girls’ degree college Balambat so that burden on their college could be eased.

They also demanded of the government to release funds for the repair of college buses and provision of solar system and furniture.

DOWRY FOR POOR GIRLS: Al-Khidmat Foundation (AKF), a charity organisation, handed over dowry items to ten poor girls during a function held here.

The AKF district president Hafizullah Khaksar along with Haji Majidullah, Hassan Ali Shah and Fahimud Din distributed the dowry packages consisting of washing machines, pedestal fans, dinner sets and other electric items worth Rs 70,000 each.

Speaking on the occasion Mr Khaksar said that it was difficult for poor families to arrange dowry for girls due to record inflation and urged the philanthropists to join hands with the AKF so that poor families could be given financial assistance in this regard.

Published in Dawn, October 15th, 2024