SIALKOT - Govt Murray College Sialkot, the alma mater of Allama Iqbal and Faiz Ahmed Faiz, has got an advanced security system but it still faces acute shortage of classrooms, due to the students and their teachers suffering great ordeal, its principal said.

Principal Javed Akhtar Billah said that 64 CCTV cameras have been installed in Govt Murray College Sialkot which cover all the parts of the college which is 128 years old.

He added that 31 security guards most of them retired Pak Army officers were performing round-the-clock security duties there  with automatic weapons. The direly needed vital step was also providing the security and safety for more than 6,000 students in the college, he said. He said that six vigilance points/bunkers have also been established in and around the college. He said that security has been ensured for the first time in 128 years history of Govt Murray College as the students are properly lined up while coming in and going out of the college amid tight security.

Meanwhile, the social, literary, political, business and educational circles have demanded the government announce the status of a full-fledged university for Govt Murray College Sialkot for providing quality higher education facilities to the local students.

They said that the Sialkot lacked a full-fledged university due to which the local students had been facing difficulties in getting higher education while going to the other big cities.

Prof Javed Akhtar Billah said it was in dire need of University status. He said that efforts were being made by the Punjab government to make Murray College Sialkot as “Center of Excellence”. He said that the Punjab government should grant “degree awarding status” to to Govt Murray College Sialkot at the earliest.

The principal urged the Punjab government to provide suitable land for the direly needed extension of this college and granting university status to Murray College Sialkot, besides, establishing its new campus in outskirts of Sialkot city. He said that early allocation of suitable land has now become vital due to the growing number of the students.

He said that 200 acres of state land lying unattended there along the Sialkot-Eimanabad Road and 500 acres of state land was lying there near Sambrial, out of which the provincial government could easily allocate suitable land for Murray College’s extension.

He said that it was located on an area of three acres since its establishment in 1889 when it was had been established for only 500 students and now the number of students has reached 6,000.

At present, it has been facing acute shortage of classrooms, due to which the perturbed students and their teachers were suffering from great ordeal in getting education there, he said. He said that there was a dire need of early establishment of as many as 56 additional class rooms in this college to cater the growing number of the students here.