Land acquired to establish media university in Islamabad

Govt also considering establishing a modern technology school in the federal capital

ISLAMABAD: The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has acquired land to establish a media university in the federal capital, a high-level huddle was told on Wednesday.

The meeting was jointly chaired by Federal Education Minister Shafqat Mehmood and Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Fawad Chaudhry.

Matter related to setting up two faculties of performing arts and technology at the proposed media varsity also came under consideration during the meeting. In the field of arts, the meeting discussed teaching acting and script writing.

The meeting also considered establishing a modern school in the technology sector. It also decided to establish a technical committee for the preparation of recommendations in this connection. It was decided that the committee would prepare a feasibility report for the establishment of the university.



The education minister assured all possible cooperation for the establishment of the university.

The meeting was also attended by secretaries Education, and Information and Broadcasting, and Higher Education Commission officials.

In November last year, the federal information minister had revealed the government’s plan to build a varsity titled ‘Pakistan University of Media Sciences’. He hoped that the project would be ready in first 100 days of the PTI government.

“This will be our biggest contribution to Pak media industry,” he had said in a tweet.

Alhamdolillah Pak University of media sciences project is ready in first 100 days of PTI Govt ,this ll be our biggest contribution to Pak media industry pic.twitter.com/NVPelTkqkP

— Ch Fawad Hussain (@fawadchaudhry) November 26, 2018

The government had earlier underlined its plan to regulate the country’s media industry and introduce necessary reforms to bring it at par with the international standards.

Earlier in the day, Fawad had announced the federal government’s plans to initiate a comprehensive crackdown on “hate speech” on social media in Pakistan.

Addressing an event in Islamabad, he said a working group, with representatives of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) and other security agencies, had been formed to regulate social media platforms.

“We have developed a comprehensive mechanism to keep a check on hate speech on social media. A working group with representatives of the FIA and other agencies is working on the task.”