OKARA: Punjab Higher Education Minister Raja Yasir Humayun Sarfraz has admitted that he feels sorry to say that his department could not provide funds to the University of Okara (UO) in the last two years as most of the funds were spent on the University of Sahiwal.

The minister told reporters at the UO on Thursday that he would manage funds from the federal government for UO’s under-construction buildings. He said the provision of higher education was the priority of the PTI government.

The minister said according to the students’ strength, the UO needed 40 buses for their pick and drop but only nine buses were with the university.

University people demanded that a railway level crossing (LC) along the GT Road. The minister said he would ensure that in the ML-1 project, a level crossing would be installed so that those coming from the GR Road could reach the university easily.

The minister said scholarships for the students would be provided. He also advised the administration to take measures for self-sustainability for the smooth running of the academia.

The minister chaired the 14th annual Syndicate meeting at the UO where HED Secretary Irum Bokhari was also present. The meeting discussed problems faced by the UO and key developments and interventions on the campus.

The minister said the government was keen on improving the education sector of the country, especially the higher education, “because without preparing our youth for future challenges, we cannot meet the goal of sustainable development”.

The vice chancellor said currently 12,000 students had enrolled in 49 departments altogether where 80 degree programmes were under way. For fall 2020, the UO received 80,000 applications for admission.

The VC said they had started a community outreach programme for raising awareness in rural areas about higher education. The minister opened the PhD block.

He said, “I pay tribute to the untiring struggle of VC Prof Dr Muhammad Zakria Zakar for providing decent academic facilities to the students.”

KILLED: A man shot dead his sister-in-law in village 18/1L over some family dispute.

Muhammad Rafique had some dispute with his babhi Asiya.

The Renal Sadar police shifted the body to the hospital for postmortem.

Published in Dawn, October 9th, 2020