Author Topic: Quaid-e-Azam University (QAU) Islamabad students protest power cuts  (Read 8387 times)

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Quaid-e-Azam University (QAU) Islamabad students protest power cuts

Islamabad: The students of Quaid-e-Azam University (QAU) Islamabad on Wednesday staged a protest against prolonged power outages, as they blocked the main gate of the university at a time when university buses leave the campus to drop off day scholars and teachers. The protesting students demanded that the university administration buy a generator to ensure power supply during outages.

While it was a token protest aimed at effectively voicing students' demands, day scholars and teachers who come from as far places as Wah Cantt faced difficulties due to the protest. The students called off the protest after half an hour after the university teachers assured them that their grievances would be addressed.

Hassan Javed, a protesting student, said that the students had to resort to protest, since the administration was indifferent to their demands. Javed, an M.Phil student at the Defence and Strategic Studies Department, said that the university had sent a notice to the government one year ago, demanding an alternative electricity supply from the Diplomatic Enclave. He added however that the government had not yet taken any step in this regard, leading students to assume that either the university or the government was not pursuing the matter.

Studies: He said that all universities had their own generators, whereas QAU, presumably one of the most prestigious seats of learning in the country, was without the facility, forcing students involved in research work to stop the activity in the face of "ever-increasing load-shedding". He said that students taking their sessional tests were facing immense difficulties, as the outages continued for two hours at a stretch, adversely affecting their studies.

Another student said on the condition of anonymity that instead of resolving their problems, the university administration was threatening to take action against them. He said that staging a protest for their demands was their legitimate right. Students had met Acting Vic Chancellor Zafar Iqbal Cheema, In Charge students' Affairs Maqsoodul Hassan Butt and Provost GSK Niazi, informing them about their grievances. However, no step was taken to resolve their problems, he added.

The students taking part in the protest said that QAU students were also facing other problems. They said that while the university was increasing tuition fees and hostel dues after every semester, sub-standard food was being provided at the mess of QAU hostels. They demanded that student mess committees should be formed to ensure quality meals for hostel residents.

Every time students come back from their homes after official vacations at the university, they find that hostel mess are closed for weeks after the opening of the university, forcing students to go to Aabpara for their meals, they said, adding that the QAU female students had staged a protest a few days ago against inadequate facilities at hostels in front of the vice chancellor's office.

The protesting students said that hostel residents were also facing transport related problems, as the university buses stopped plying between Aabpara and the campus after 10:30.

The students said that they would continue their protest, which was their moral and legal right, if the administration did not resolve their problems. Daily Times
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