BAHAWALPUR, Jul 05 (APP):The Islamia University of Bahawalpur (IUB) Vice-Chancellor Engr Prof Dr. Athar Mahboob on Tuesday said the university was working for environmental protection and climate change and in this regard, two major initiatives have been taken.
While talking to APP here, he told that the first initiative was the establishment of the Inter-University Consortium for Climate Change and Sustainable Development, which was established about three months ago. The vice chancellor told that the consortium has more than 70 organizations as its members and more than 50 of them are universities in Pakistan.
He told that Punjab Governor and Chancellor of the university Engr Muhammad Baligh-ur-Rehman has also indicated his support for this consortium and that it was his idea that climate change action should be initiated at the university level.
The vice chancellor told that another initiative taken by the university for climate change is the rain enhancement program for Cholistan.
He told that after approval from the Punjab chief minister the trials for this ionization project will start and the average rainfall of Cholistan will be increased from 100 mm per year to 600 mm per year.
Engr Prof Dr. Athar Mahboob told that this will also help in making around 6.7 million acres of Cholistan land arable and turn Cholistan into a food basket.
He said many new programs are being initiated at the university after approval from concerned councils including architecture, nursing, veterinary, and animal sciences.
To a question, he told that 17000 more students are expected to get admitted in the Fall 2022 intake and 2 new campuses at Ahamdpur East and Liaqatpur will become operational in the coming semester. After new admissions, the total number of students at the university will reach around 70,000.
The vice chancellor said that in order to maintain a healthy teacher-student ratio, new recruitments are being done. As many as 400 new appointments have been done for the positions of lecturers in various departments and more than 250 associate lecturers will be recruited in a couple of months.
He told that recruitment for the posts of Professors, Associate Professors, and Assistant Professors will be completed during the last quarter of this year. In addition, 1600 visiting faculty are also teaching at the university. He told that the visiting faculty will undergo mandatory pedagogical training to improve teaching standards at the university.
