A majority of old students of Quaid-i-Azam University (QAU) rejected the proposal to hand over the university’s land to Pakistan Institute of Development Economics (PIDE) through a lease deal.
An online referendum was conducted by QAU Alumni Association. The old students participated through facebook, whatsapp and sms from all over world. Sharing the results of referendum, QAU Alumni Representative and Secretary General Murtaza Noor informed that 2,924 alumni members actively participated in the poll. Out of total, only 113 old students supported the proposal of lease of QAU’s land to PIDE while a majority 2,811 students opposed the idea. He said the purpose of this exercise was to know the opinion of the old students of the QAU over this important issue.
Noor said that we would convey the results of this important opinion poll to all the stakeholders and next action plan would be formulated in consultation with our senior alumni members and especially QAU faulty members who are a key stakeholder in this important issue. He said as QAU is celebrating its 50th year of establishment, the federal government should announce special package for this federal university of Pakistan to meet its growing needs.
He said that the alumni members have lamented over the fact that in spite of completion of 50 years, the needs of QAU are not being met through proper provision of required funds which is not only affecting the performance of this important higher education institution of Pakistan but also increasing problems of the faculty and students.
He also appealed the president and federal interior minister to take strict action against land mafia who has illegally occupied the precious land of this top-ranked university of Pakistan.