HEC approves Rs1,947 million project for ICP

PESHAWAR: The Higher Education Commission (HEC), Islamabad, has approved Rs1,947.148 million for infrastructural and academic development of Islamia College Peshawar (ICP).

Nine components of the project will be completed in 16 months.  The proposed components of this HEC-backed project include a new administration block-Sardar Abdur Rab Nishtar Administration Block, an academic block-Rehman Baba Academic Block, a new library - Mohammad  Ali Jinnah Library, an Information Technology Centre, an OMICS Centre, first of its kind across the country for DNA/molecular research in different scientific disciplines, a guesthouse for visiting faculty from abroad, and construction of 81 teaching and administrative staff houses for all grades.  

Dr Zahoor Jan, Additional Deputy Director Planning and Development, ICP said that in view of the human resource development in the university, 13 scholarships for study abroad had been allocated under faculty development programme for young faculty. 

He added that a chair under proposed name Rehman Baba Chair for high level academic research in social sciences had been created under the project.

It merits a mention here that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in a visit to the university last year on the occasion of its centennial celebrations had announced a generous fund of Rs1 billion for the infrastructural and academic development of the Islamia College University. The university administration under  former vice-chancellor Ajmal Khan worked hard to submit different projects to the quarters concerned. Some development projects within the premises of the existing college are already in progress.

The historic Islamia College was upgraded to the level of university in 2009 and without constructing more buildings for the university level classes. The students were accommodated within the existing facility due to which the students as well as teaching faculty faced a host of problems. The worst affected were the college students who had to share their class rooms with university students.

There had been a pressing demand that separate space should be acquired for the university where another building should be constructed so that the beauty and historic value of the college couldn’t be affected and the university could also function well. But separate space for the university couldn’t be arranged anywhere around the provincial capital and more construction was started and proposed within the existing building.