LAHORE: The Chief Minister’s (CM) Secretariat is working on identifying 500 acres of land to establish a new campus for King Edward Medical University (KEMU) in a Lahore suburb, The Express Tribune has learnt.
Officials told The Tribune that the campus would most likely be built near Thokar Niaz Baig but did not pinpoint an exact location. The proposal by the KEMU pro vice chancellor for building a new campus has been sent by the Health Department to the CM Secretariat for approval.
The summary of the proposal, Requirements for Transforming KEMU into a World Class State of the Art University is made available to The Tribune.
The pro vice chancellor has outlined the plan for establishment of a new academic block/lecture theatres, an Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, an Institute of Allied Sciences, an Advanced Research Centre, a Diagnostic Centre/Laboratory, a state of the art Animal House, a skills laboratory for students, a sports complex, hostels and residences for the faculty as essential requirements.
The estimated cost of the construction is Rs220 million. “The pro-vice chancellor has informed that the scheme was earlier approved for funding by the Higher Education Commission,” the Health Department states in the summary for the CM.
In its recommendation Health Department said, “The matter has been examined. KEMU is primarily an institution of the government of the Punjab. It was given the status of university in 2005. Most of the employees of KEMU and attached hospitals are government employees, and the institutions are important assets of the government of the Punjab. The KEMU is playing an important and leading role in the production of human resource required for delivery of quality health care. The University has also embarked upon the largest post-graduate medical education and research programme.”
The summary says, “Funding from the HEC to the health universities in the Punjab has been minimal. The government of Punjab has been sustaining these institutions through grant in-aid and empowerment by enhancing institutional resources. The Health Department is of the view that the proposal forwarded by the pro-vice chancellor for grant of land and financial resources needs special consideration and may be approved in principle. Board of Revenue may be tasked to indentify suitable government land around Lahore for this purpose.”
An official with intimate knowledge of the matter told The Tribune, “The location of the land will be finalised soon. The Health Department has also proposed to KEMU to provide a phased programme for development, prioritising the more pressing needs. Once approved, the programme may be implemented as a series of projects funded out of the annual development programme. It must, however, be within the overall health sector development framework of the province.”
A department head at KEMU said, “The establishment of the new KEMU campus isn’t a new idea. Institutes like Government College University (GCU), Punjab University (PU) and University of Engineering and Technology (UET) have campuses in Lahore as well as other cities.”
KEMU Vice Chancellor Dr Asad Aslam Khan confirmed that the proposal had been sent to the Health Department and hoped that work on it would begin soon.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 21st, 2011.
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