QAU land lease plan has few takers

Islamabad

So strapped for cash is the Quaid-i-Azam University that it has planned to give away 17 acres of land on its main campus to the Pakistan Institute of Development Economics, a degree-awarding institution, on lease for Rs500 million, sources said.

They said in fact, the PIDE intends to use the sought-after land for setting up own campus though the Capital Development Authority has already allotted it around 18 acres of land in H-11/2 for the purpose.

However, there’re few takers for the land lease plan.

First, it was senior teachers and some members of the syndicate, the highest decision-making body at the QAU, who opposed the plan insisting first a sizeable part of the university land is already occupied and second if the land is once ‘sold’ for money, the act will be repeated in future under similar circumstances.

And now, a large majority of the QAU alumni rejects the plan.

The QAU Almuni Association held an online referendum among its members about it of late.

The plan didn’t sit well with more than 95 participants, who rejected it outright and urged the government to announce a special financial package for the university to help meet its needs.