KARACHI – The land mafia has not even spared the land allotted for the establishment of the Education City in Karachi and has encroached upon several acres there, Sindh Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah said on Tuesday The provincial chief executive was presiding over a meeting convened to review the progress on the project, an official handout stated.
“The previous government had initiated the Education City project and made initial allotments there but at present many people have encroached the land, which is to be vacated, said the chief minister during the meeting. He added that the Education City in Karachi is a futuristic project aimed at providing latest, high-quality education in different fields and sectors, and the government will not only encourage but also provide necessary assistance and infrastructure for the project for enhancing educational activities in the area.
“Due to acute need of well-established educational institutions and higher education, concerted efforts are to be made for implementation and promotion of quality primary education, which is essential for development, progress and prosperity of the province,” said Shah, assuring that necessary funds for basic infrastructure will be provided for attracting more investors and education promoters.
He said this project will generate many employment opportunities and preference will be given to the local people, aimed at alleviating poverty from the area. For the overall reviewing of the Education City’s Master Plan and suggesting a proper draft before sending it to the Sindh Law Department for vetting, the chief minister directed to constitute a four-member committee comprising the provincial law minister, the Adviser to Chief Minister on Investment, the Sindh Chief Secretary and the Investment secretary.
In a presentation at the meeting, Adviser on Chief Minister on Investment Zubair Motiwala and Sindh Investment Secretary Muhammad Younis Dagha informed that the Education City is spread over an area of 8,921 acres, where about 50 well-reputed institutions will be established that will impart education to over 150,000 students. For the preparation of Education City structure, world class planners have been engaged and the draft of Education City Act has been prepared, they added.
Law Minister Ayaz Soomro suggested that as providing education is the object of the provincial government, this project should be renamed as ‘Education Cities in Sindh’ and the land given as per the actual requirement of the project.
He added that it should be made compulsory that the land allotted for the purpose is used for the said project only and should be non-transferable. Local Government Minister Agha Siraj Durrani suggested that the elected representatives of the area be taken as the project’s board members and that the Sindh Board of Revenue should provide land against payment by those institutions. It was informed at the meeting that the main purpose of the Education City is to attend to the immediate needs of the province of Sindh and establish institutions that will provide high-quality formal and vocational education on the basis of equal opportunity and merit, and for the establishment of quality health institutions.
The Education City Board will be formed that will provide strategic vision and set policy guidelines for all matters pertaining to the project; control and supervise land allotment and land usage; formulate policies, bylaws and guidelines to counter land encroachments and illegal occupation of land; prepare and oversee master plan, zoning bylaws and standards; design guidelines, grants, renew and/or cancel permits of any regulated activity; enforce quality standards; and settle disputes between allotees and utility providers, etc.
It was proposed that the chief minister be appointed the board chairman and the adviser to chief minister on investment as the vice chairman. The elected representatives, members from different institutions, the Higher Education Commission, business community and academia should be taken as members. Besides, the secretaries of Investment, Education, Local Government and Land Utilisation departments should be taken as members of the Education City Board.
It was further informed at the meeting that so far Aga Khan University, Information Technology and Media City, Shaheed Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto Institute of Science and Technology, Sindh Institute of Urology and Transplantation, Ziauddin University, Salim Habib Foundation, Quad-e-Azam Public School, Sir Syed University of Engineering and Technology, Newports Institute of Communication and Economics, Judicial Academy and Habib University Foundation have been allotted lands, while the applications for land of Sindh Madressatul Islam, Karachi Education Interior (Cambridge University, Judge Business School), Memon Universities, Indus Valley School of Art and Architecture, Roots Education System and Dow University are pending for approval.
The Education City is expected to generate employment opportunities for 192,530 people and besides high-quality education it would impart skill/vocational training to the students. Moreover, 10 percent of the seats available in the project would be free.
Wither the land of Education City, the land grabbers show no remorse
