KMDC Convocation Number of universities rises to 50 in a decade: Ebad Prof Kazmi named V-C of new medical/dental varsity DN Report

The Convocation's impressive ceremony held at the college premises was largely attended by faculty members, graduates, their parents, elite of the city and senior government functionaries. Delivering the Convocation address, Sindh governor, Dr Ishrat-ul-Ebad, amid loud applause from the gathering announced that the KMDC was being upgraded to a university and its first vice chancellor would be Prof Waqar Kazmi, the incumbent principal of the college. "Now you will see the status of this medical and dental college, the only one under the administration of the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation, change in the coming two weeks," he added. The governor recalled how land for KMDC had been acquired in 1990. "In fact, taking possession of this land from encroachers was a very difficult task as this very land was once used to produce criminals once but now it is producing extraordinary human resource in the shape of doctors," the governor added. The governor on this occasion also announced an allocation of Rs100 million as seed money for the university, saying that the amount would be generated for the new university. He also approved the plan for setting up an Information Technology & Video-conferencing lab, an auditorium, an administrative block and a 10-storey building. In this connection, the governor asked the KMC Administrator to start looking for at least five appropriate pieces of land for the university centers. At the outset, the governor recalled that there were some 23 or 24 universities in Sindh when he took over as the governor of the province in December 2002, but the number of universities in the province has now jumped to about 50. Mentioning about his own alma mater, Dr Ebad said that the Dow Medical College had already become Dow University of Health Sciences whereas Sindh Madressahtul Islam, where the Father of the nation, Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah, had studied, had also been given the status of a university. The governor felicitated the graduates of all the four batches and their parents and announced Rs25,000 each for the gold medalists of four years. Speaking as the guest of honour, Sindh health minister Dr Sagheer Ahmed, said that it was Mr Altaf Hussain who had given the task of establishing a medical & dental college KMDC to Dr Farooq Sattar when the latter was Mayor of Karachi. He said that the KMDC, in a short span of time, has become one of the best medical institutions of the country as its students had consistently been passing out their MBBS and BDS examinations, conducted by Karachi University, with flying colours. Dr Sagheer said that the KMDC was the only institution where all admissions are given on merit basis alone and in a transparent manner. Earlier, the KMDC Principal and Chairman Academic Council, Prof Waqar H. Husain Kazmi, presented the College report, saying that 16 batches of MBBS and BDS, with 100 per cent results, have passed out of the KMDC since its inception in 1991. He said that as the number of seats in the KMDC has been increased to 350 per year from 150, and now, altogether, there would be 250 seats for MBBS and 100 seats for BDS and all admissions would be made purely on merit. MPH PROGRAMME: On this occasion, Karachi University vice chancellor, Prof Muhammad Qaiser, in his brief speech, announced a two-year masters programme in Public Health. KMC administrator Muhammad Hussain Syed also spoke on the occasion. Earlier, the Convocation's chairperson, Prof (Dr) Nargis Anjum, highlighted the salient features of the 4th Covocation and lauded the efforts of her team-mates in making the event a great success. The Convocation's secretary Dr Aqueel Ahmed Shaikh, gave vote of thanks. JUBILANT GRADUATES: As soon as the Convocation was declared closed, both the medical and dental graduates, attired in traditional Convocation gowns, threw their hood high and high in jubilation, and later exchanged greetings with their parents, batch-mates and faculty members. The Convocation was followed by a colourful musical programme.