GUJRAT-Millions of rupees were donated to the University of Gujrat (UoG) Endowment Fund to support the deserving students and finance research and development projects at Hafiz Hayat Campus.
Donations and pledges kept pouring in till they touched the figure of Rs7 million at the ‘Endowment Fund Meet Up’ that was attended by the members of the civil society and various social and welfare organisations as well as industrialists and businessmen.
The UoG Endowment Fund was established to bear the educational expenses of deserving students. “The contributions will be invested to gain maximum profits and the proceeds will also be used for construction and maintenance of buildings, sports activities, and for achieving the goals of research and academic excellence,” Vice Chancellor Ziau -Qayyum told the participants.
Among those who attended the ceremony and made generous donations included Federal Parliamentary Secretary for Defence Chaudhry Jafar Iqbal, MPA Haji Imran Zafar, renowned social worker Dr Tariq Saleem and PMA President Maqsood Zahid.
Businessmen and industrialists also contributed generously to the fund. They included Ch Asif Dhool, Mubeen Ilyas, Rizwan Amjad, Aslam Javed, Adnan Ahmad Cheema, Qadir Hussain, Azhar Munir, Tariq Ch. Fayyaz Sahfi, Zain Waris, Adnan Iftikhar, Safdar Mumtaz Sandhu, Muhammad Afzal, Malik Izhar Ahmad Awan and Javed Butt.
The participants vowed to continue to support the fund. It was decided at the meeting that chambers of commerce in Gujranwala, Gujrat and Sialkot as well as members of various traders’ unions in the Golden Triangle cities and overseas Pakistanis will also be wooed to further strengthen the fund.
Registrar Dr Tahir Aqil said that the UoG is one of the fastest growing public sector institutions of higher education. The university has achieved a number of milestones by strengthening its industry-academia linkages as well as through various community development projects.
Treasurer Abdul Wahid Butt said that financial support to the higher education institutions is tantamount to making investment for the bright future of the new generation.
Director Media Sheikh Abdul Rashid opined that education institutions are regarded as sacred places in the Islamic culture. A buoyant endowment fund will go a long way in achieving the national targets at the education front.