ISLAMABAD: The Ministry of Federal Education and Professional Training has started the process for hiring a consultant for the feasibility study of the proposed Daanish University of Emerging Technologies in Islamabad.

The ministry has floated a tender in this regard and sources said once hired the consultant will complete the feasibility study (geo-tech, topographic, hydrological study and techno feasibility) in a month.

Meanwhile, the ministry on Monday also floated an advertisement for pre-qualification of firms for designing and supervision of the university project. The sources in the ministry said that on May 29, bids of pre-qualification firms would be opened and then after one week the firms would be prequalified.

Meanwhile, they said, when the above-mentionedfeasibility study will be completed, the financial bid for pre-qualified bidders would be called for designing and supervision of the project.

Asked about funding for the project, an official of the education ministry stated that the university would be constructed from a portion of 190 million pounds which had been seized from a Pakistani property tycoon abroad and returned. The sources said that roughly Rs25 billion would be spent on the project while the remaining amount would be utilised for other education projects.

`The fund is still with the ministry of finance as we are in process of getting approval of the steering committee for formation of Daanish University Company. Once the company is formed, the fund would be transferred by the ministry of finance into the account of the company, said an officer of the education ministry. The university will be set up in Islamabad`s sector H-16 and the federalcabinet has already allocated 100 acresfor the project.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif wanted early completion of the project. During his visit to the university project site on March 15, he had stated that the university would not only become a model in the country but would also carve a niche among the world`s top educational centres on the basis of quality of education, research and development of applied sciences.

It is relevant to note here that public sector universities in the country have been protesting to get funds as Higher Education Commission (HEC) is facing a shortfall of Rs60 billion. HEC had sought Rs125 billion for the fiscal year 202425, but was allocated only Rs65 billion. The faculty members of public sector universities under the banner of Federation of All Pakistan Universities Academic Staff Associations (FAPUASA) have been demanding an increase in the budget of the higher education sector.