HYDERABAD: Fifty-six teachers associated with different universities of Sindh have appealed to Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, the Sindh chief minister, education minister and Higher Education Commission (HEC) as well as the other authorities concerned to establish a university of science, technology, arts and business development in Mithi.

The petition has been drafted by a 12-member ad hoc committee headed by Prof Dr Bhawani Shankar Chowdhry (convener) and Sohail Sangi (secretary).

The signatories of the appeal include some sitting and former vice chancellors and 30 PhD scholars.

Highlighting water scarcity, food insecurity, climate change impact, inadequate healthcare and education facilities, abject poverty, gender disparity and unemployment in this drought-hit region, they pleaded that proper education and human resource development opportunities would help mitigate sufferings of Tharis.

They said people of Thar could not afford to pursue higher education in universities in cities like Hyderabad or Karachi while there were challenges for Tharis to face, specially now when the Thar coal project needed highly educated and qualified personnel.

Human resource development there is not possible without equipping Tharis with higher education and training, according to them.

They suggested that the whole infrastructure of the proposed university could be laid in Mithi, which was easily accessible from Umerkot as well.