Muzaffarabad, July 16 (TNS): Sardar Masood Khan, President of Azad Jammu and Kashmir, has said that all public sector universities of AJK will leverage their collective strengths towards providing students from AJK and Pakistan with the latest tertiary education facilities and making concrete efforts in promoting research and innovation.
The President made these comments while chairing the Vice Chancellors Conference of AJK public sector universities here at the Presidency. The meeting was attended by Prof. Dr. Kaleem Abbasi, VC University of AJK, Muzaffarabad (UAJK); Prof. Dr. Rasul Jan, VC University of Poonch (UoP); Prof. Dr. Haleem Khan, VC Women University of AJK, Bagh; Prof. Dr. Habib-ur-Rehman, VC Mirpur University of Science and Technology; and Prof. Dr. Dilnawaz Gardezi, VC University of Kotli.
Various matters relating to the universities, including the introduction of new disciplines, establishment of sub-campuses, job fairs, conducting seminars and conferences, enactment of statutes, inter-university competitions, and other financial, administrative and academic issues were brought under discussion.
The Vice Chancellors informed the President – who is also the Chancellor of AJK Public Sector Universities – on the progress on drafting statutes of their respective universities. Statutes of University of Kotli, Poonch, Bagh and MUST were in final stages of being drafted and the President was assured that these statutes will be placed for approval in the near future.
The President, in a previous meeting, urged the universities to organize job-fairs, and also to organise seminars on issues like the Kashmir issue and China-Pakistan Economic Corridor. It was informed that University of Kotli, UoP and UAJK would organise job-fairs in the first week of September, while Women University Bagh will hold their job-fair by the mid of August. The President advised expediting all arrangements in order to ensure the job-fairs are held on time.
Prof. Dr. Dilnawaz informed that the University of Kotli will also be organizing an International Science Conference in October, this year.
Reiterating the need to create awareness and to acknowledge the sacrifices of the founding fathers of AJK, the President highlighted the need to organise seminars/conferences on prominent personalities. It was decided that seminars/conferences on the lives and contributions of Sardar Ibrahim Khan, Sardar Abdul Qayyum, Chaudhry Ghulam Abbas, Ali Ahmad Shah, Fateh Muhammad Khan Karelvi, Mirwaiz Yusuf Shah, K. H. Khurshid, Captain Khan Muhammad Khan (Khan of Mong) and Col. Khan Muhammad Khan (Baba-e-Poonch) would be organized at the universities. The President said that contributors be invited to submit their scholarly papers on these personalities so as to be presented in the conferences.
