Gathering dust: A flagship institution, an empty building

Built at a cost of Rs750m, the Punjab Institute of Quran and Seerat Studies is still not operational


Asif Mehmood November 21, 2019
A Reuters representational image.

LAHORE: When it initiated the project over a decade ago, the Punjab government had hoped to set up a model institute that would impart religious education at a higher level and become a hub of Islamic research in the country. Till date, however, the Punjab Institute of Quran and Seerat Studies (PIQSS) exists only as an empty building worth hundreds of millions of rupees with its future still up in the air.

The project kicked off in 2006, when the provincial government set aside some 54 acres of land in Lahore’s Upper Mall area and a budget of Rs550 million for construction. The original schedule called for construction to be complete by 2009. It included the establishment of a modern Islamic library, a Quran museum and a centre for excellence.

The institute, once finished, would have offered both Masters and PhD programmes concerning the Arabic language and Islamic disciplines, like Seerat-e-Tayyaba, taught by a faculty composed of top Islamic scholars. The original vision for PIQSS placed immense emphasis on publication of Islamic research. It was also hoped that the institute would also work on a translation of the Holy Quran that would be accepted by scholars from all sects of Islam.

Hospital machines gather dust

By the time construction finished, the cost of the state-of-the-art PIQSS building had ballooned to Rs750 million. The Punjab Assembly approved the Punjab Institute of Quran and Seerat Studies Act 2014 on December 17 that year, while a notification on behalf of the governor was issued almost a month later.

The PIQSS board of directors that was initially constituted included the chief minister as chairperson and the provincial religious affairs minister as a senior vice chancellor. Justice (retd) Khalilur Rehman was also part of the original board for two years as a senior vice chancellor. Two MPAs and the representatives of various other provincial government departments up to the additional secretary level comprised the remainder of the board.

A Reuters representational image. A Reuters representational image.

All of that was over four years ago. Since then, there has been no effort towards making PIQSS functional, with senior government functionaries citing various issues.

Auqaaf and Religious Affairs Department Director General Tahir Bukhari pointed to a lack of funds as the main culprit behind why the project had stalled. “We still need to fill up a lot of posts at the institute. PIQSS staff currently comprises just some workers hired to look after the building,” he said.

Other officials from the department, meanwhile, revealed that the grant given to the institute had reverted back to the finance wing during the four years it had remained non-functional. “The PIQSS administration did not even set up an official account in those four years,” an Auqaaf department official said on condition of anonymity. “The institute’s current affairs, including the salaries of its sparse staff, are being managed through loans obtained from our department.”

A Reuters representational image. A Reuters representational image.

Sources also said the prime minister’s plans to set up a Sufi University had also complicated matters for PIQSS. According to them, the premier is interested in using the building constructed for PIQSS for that university instead. Either way, no progress has been made towards either end since that announcement, they said.

When contacted, Punjab Auqaaf Minister Pir Syed Saeedul Hasan Shah insisted that all non-functional institutes in the province, including PIQSS, will be made functional soon under the prime minister’s directives. “Lack of resources is hindering several projects at the moment, but we will not allow any resource to go to waste,” he said.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 21st, 2019.

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