Hyderabad to get a federal university

Citizens have demanded a varsity since SU was transferred to Jamshoro in 1990s

KARACHI: Prime Minister Imran Khan will lay the foundation of a university for Hyderabad today (Thursday) during a ceremony at the Prime Minister House in Islamabad.

Since the University of Sindh (SU) was transferred to Jamshoro in the 1990s, citizens of Hyderabad have demanded the establishment of a university in the second largest city of Sindh.

Former prime minister Nawaz Sharif had announced that a university would be established while his successor Shahid Khaqan Abbasi had approved funds for this project but none of these decisions were implemented.

After the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) took office in 2018, a clause pertaining to the establishment of a university in Hyderabad was included in a written agreement with the Muttahida Quami Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P). It is now being implemented.

The university will be established as a federal institution and land has already been provided for it by the Civil Aviation Authority.  According to sources, 50 acres of land have been reserved in Kohsar area of the city.

The federal government has allocated Rs2 billion for the construction of the university which may be completed in three years. Preliminary work is also being completed to get the charter of the university approved from the National Assembly.

The university is expected to be named Federal Hyderabad University and will include faculties of science, arts, commerce and pharmacy, among other departments.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 4^th, 2019.