FAISALABAD, Oct 31 (APP):Punjab Governor Chaudhry Mohammad Sarwar has said that a three-point priority agenda has been adopted for development of the public sector universities, in addition to resolving their major issues.
He was talking to the media after inaugurating a water filtration plant at the Government College Women University Faisalabad (GCWUF) on Saturday.
He said that all universities would be converted to the solar system to solve their problem of interruption in power supply, in addition to cutting down the electricity expenses on permanent basis. Eleven universities have so far inked a memorandums of understanding (MoUs) for solar system while 10 others were in the process of doing so. The universities are paying electricity cost at Rs 12 per unit, whereas the solar system would help reduce it to Rs 10/unit, he added.
The governor said that the second priority would be provision of clean drinking water to the university students and staff. For the purpose, he added, the Sarwar Foundation had installed a filtration plant at the GCWUF, in collaboration with al-Khair Foundation. It will help provide clean drinking water to 16,000-17,000 people at the institute.
He said that the Sarwar Foundation was providing potable water to two million people daily. In 2013, the foundation was installing a filtration plant with an estimated cost of Rs 1.5 million, whereas the then government installed the same plant with Rs 15 million, and all those plants installed by the government had gone faulty and now the foundation was repairing and rehabilitating them.
He said that the government had established the Punjab Aab-e-Pak Authority and it had also started work in Chak Jhumra of Faisalabad district where 40,000-50.000 people would soon get clean drinking water. Later, the scope of the project would be expanded across the province, he added.
Elaborating the third point of the agenda, he said that Pakistan was facing acute water shortage. There was ample availability of water in 1950s and 60s, but now water scarcity is prevailing in the country. Therefore, the government had planned storing the rainwater for its use in need and for the purpose, the universities should play a crucial role.
Responding to a question, the governor said that all parties and politicians should prioritise national interests instead of personal gains. If anyone of any party utters words against the country’s sovereignty, that party should condemn him instead of supporting him.
Earlier, addressing a function at the GCWUF, the governor said that women empowerment was imperative for national progress. Therefore, the government was concentrating on empowering the woman community by providing them with quality education.
The governor said he had made the Quranic teachings compulsory in all universities in order to apprise the young generation about golden principles of Islam which are necessary for success in this world and the world hereafter.
Chairman National Assembly Standing Committee for Finance and Economic Affairs Faizullah Kamoka, Vice Chancellor GCWUF Prof Dr Robina Farooq, MPA Firdous Rai, Chairman District Overseas Committee Mirza Muhammad Asghar and others were also present.
Later, the governor also inaugurated ‘Langar Khana’ [free food facility] at the City Terminal under the auspices of Sylani Welfare Trust.
He appreciated the service of Sylani Welfare Trust and checked quality of the food by eating it with the people at the Langar Khana.
