Health facility: KU’s medical college and hospital to be built by Panjwani trust

It will be spread over seven acres on University Road opposite the campus

KARACHI: Karachi University (KU) vice-chancellor (VC) Prof Dr Muhammad Qaiser has written a letter to the Panjwani Foundation and Trust to start the project of KU’s medical college and hospital.

In his letter, the VC has asked the director of Panjwani Foundation and Trust, Nadira Panjwani, to take all the necessary steps to sign an official agreement between the trust and the university to start the project soon. The agreement will further decide the timeframe for the construction and the launch of KU’s MBBS programme in the newly constructed medical college.

A memorandum of understanding (MoU) has been signed by the university and trust officials but an agreement has yet to be finalised. The project and its construction site have been approved by the university’s syndicate committee. It will soon decide a time to finalise the agreement, said Nadira.

The medical college will be spread over seven acres on University Road opposite the campus, which was already decided to be given for the medical college and hospital in the syndicate committee’s last meeting two months ago. The committee has also submitted its progress report to the VC regarding the project, which will be named after the mother of Panjwani Foundation and Trust director, Zainab Panjwani.

Talking to The Express Tribune, Dr Qaiser confirmed that he has received the syndicate committee’s report and has completed all the legal formalities regarding the construction of the hospital and college. He also said that he has sent a letter to the trust’s director to sign an agreement so that the construction work can kick off as soon as possible.



The hospital will comprise 150 beds and all medical equipment, which will also be KU’s property once the construction is completed. The hospital and medical college will be handed over to the university after the completion of the project. KU VC will be the chairperson of the board of governors for Zainab Panjwani Hospital, while two other members from KU, the dean of pharmacy and the dean of medicine, will be part of the board. Two members from the Panjwani Foundation and Trust and one member from the Sindh health department will also be on the board.

“The trust will build a medical college and hospital on the university’s property but each and everything will be their responsibility from beds to all medical equipment,” said Qaiser. “They will hand over the hospital and college to the university once it is completed. The syndicate committee will be responsible for setting up the board of governors for the hospital in accordance with a certain criteria”.

Panjwani Foundation and Trust will also provide a grant worth Rs25 million to the university administration for miscellaneous needs at the hospital and college. The KU administration will provide the same amount from their funds for the programme.

Talking to The Express Tribune, the director of the Panjwani Foundation and Trust said that the trust has worked with KU in the past as well. “KU has requested our trust to build a medical college and hospital for them as we also have worked with them in the past, too,” said Nadira. She also pointed out that the university administration had considered many other organisations but chose the trust for the task as they had a strong background in the field and prior experience in working on hospitals.

“We have agreed upon the name of the hospital,” she said. “[It will be called] Zainab Panjwani Memorial Hospital.”

Published in The Express Tribune, July 27^th, 2015.