At long last, Merabagwal Polytechnic Institute opens

Islamabad : A public sector technical education institution has become functional on the city’s outskirts more than three decades after its foundation stone was laid.

Interestingly, work on the Merabagwal Polytechnic Institute near Simly Dam along the Murree Road was inaugurated in 1985 by then federal minister Khaqan Abbasi, while the institute was formally opened for classes by his son and the current premier, Shahid Khaqan Abbasi.

The building was put up on the 232 kanals of land both allotted by the government and donated by the locals in 1992 but the classes never began.

It has four blocks with the main academic block comprising 40 classrooms, laboratories and offices of the administrative and teaching staff members.

The second block is the hostel with 43 rooms, including a mess and a big common room, which can accommodate 80-120 students, while the third and fourth blocks have a spacious library and the cafeteria respectively. There is also a guard room at the main gate. The institute has playgrounds and other facilities as well.

According to a relevant official, in 2005, the then PML-Q government handed over the building to the Dubai-based Al-Nahiyan Trust to facilitate its earthquake rehabilitation initiatives.

In 2010, the education ministry proposed the establishment of the Madrassatul Islam, Karachi, on the premises, while the interior ministry wanted to convert the building into a sub-jail. However, the locals protested the plans and thus, causing their failure.

In 2013, the Capital Administration and Development Division leased out the college to the Allama Iqbal Open University for the start of vocational courses. However, the university’s administrative and financial problems put a spanner in the works though it spent around Rs1.1 million to purchase furniture and Rs30 million to renovate the building besides hiring three watchmen. Later, the CADD and communication ministry agreed on the start of training courses by the Frontier Works Organisation.

The college stands in the constituency of state minister for CADD Dr Tariq Fazal Chaudhry, who represents Islamabad’s rural areas in the National Assembly.

According to the minister, well-trained and experienced staff members of the military-run FWO will offer technical and professional training and diploma courses in the disciplines of electrical, mechanical, civil and computer engineering,

Declaring it a great incentive for the local youths, he said 25 per cent of the institute seats would be reserved for the residents of the four adjoining union councils, who would be enrolled on 10 per cent below than the ‘open merit’. The minister insisted that the educational institution offered vast employment opportunities to the local residents as its all BPS-1-5 posts would be filled by the people holding Islamabad’s domiciles.