MULTAN - The Higher Education Commission (HEC), under the Prime Minister Youth Programme, awarded a project of establishing a hockey stadium in Bahauddin Zakariya University (BZU).
Talking to media on Tuesday, BZU Project Director Prof Farhan Mir said that the stadium, initially having a seating capacity of 150 persons, would be constructed within one and a half years with a sum of Rs164 million. The project is part of the PM Youth Programme and Talent Hunt drive, an HEC initiative for the varsities, he said. He added that they would try their level best to get the project completed by next year within the tenure of VC Dr Kundi, who made special efforts to obtain it. The stadium will be constructed in three phases wherein a pavilion will be built in the first phase while Astro Turf will be laid down in the second phase.
In the third phase, a resource centre for the training of players would be established in the stadium, Farhan said. He maintained that talent hunt league was a great opportunity to search out young sportsmen from across the country. BZU would also host squash talent hunt league final in December under the programme, the project director noted. As many as 13 centres and stadiums for different games would be built under the PM Youth Programme, he concluded.
The project’s groundbreaking ceremony was held on Sept 26. HEC Chairman Dr Mukhtar Ahmed was the chief guest at the ceremony which was attended among others by BZU VC Dr Mansoor Kundi, Gomal University VC Dr Iftikhar Ahmed, Jamshoro University VC Dr Niaz, Khushal Khan Khattak University VC Dr Johar Ali, BZU Director Sports Tars Mohiuddin, Director Sports (Female) Abida Khan and others.