The Higher Education Commission’s plan for two public universities is stuck after Islamabad’s civic agency, the Capital Development Authority, included the commission’s Kuri land in a housing scheme. The commission, which oversees higher education, bought 250 acres there in 2007 and paid more than Rs1 billion. Officials at the commission say the authority is offering about 25 acres in Sector I-17 instead. Alternate land was supposed to come before the board on Monday, but people familiar with the meeting said the item was not taken up.
The acres were bought for the University of Engineering, Sciences and Technology and the National University of Law, and the commission paid the civic agency in full for the Kuri land. Margalla Enclave was later launched as a joint venture with the Defence Housing Authority, a body that builds housing projects, on about 18,000 kanals in Kuri. A kanal is a traditional unit of land in Pakistan. With that scheme, the authority made the commission’s allotted acres part of the housing project.
What the CDA is offering
Officials at the commission say they have been asked to accept about 25 acres in Sector I-17 in place of the 250 acres. About 25 acres is about a tenth of 250 acres. An official said the commission “never asked for I-17” and asked how it could accept 25 acres. The official said possession of the 250 acres at Kuri should be handed over without delay and, if that land is no longer available, the commission should be allotted 250 kanals anywhere.
In 2025 the CDA board decided that all government educational institutions, and plots designated for universities, would be relocated to the institutional sector of I-17. The auditor general of Pakistan had raised the Kuri land years ago, and in June this year the Public Accounts Committee, the parliamentary panel that examines public spending, took up the issue and directed an early resolution. Commission officials say that after that direction they were offered only 25 acres in I-17, which surprised them. People familiar with the agenda said Monday’s item could not be taken up and is likely to be considered at the next board meeting.
PIDE's plot in H-16
The same board did take up land allotted to the Pakistan Institute of Development Economics, an economics institute. The institute was first given land in H-11, which the authority later cancelled. It was then allotted 17.5 acres in H-16, but that land was disputed and the authority did not have possession, so the plot could not be handed over and construction could not start. Officials say a new plot of 13 acres in the same sector, this time with possession, has been identified and will be offered to the institute.
A CDA official said the board did take up this issue on Monday, and that the decision was not made public. A deputy director said the authority is likely to adjust the price in accordance with the size of the plot.
Timeline: what has happened so far
- 2007: The HEC bought 250 acres at Kuri from the CDA for two public universities and paid more than Rs1 billion.
- 2025: The CDA board decided that government educational institutions and university plots would move to the institutional sector of I-17.
- June this year: The Public Accounts Committee took up the Kuri land and directed an early resolution.
- A recent meeting: The HEC was asked to accept about 25 acres in Sector I-17 instead of 250 acres at Kuri.
- Monday: The alternate-land item was not taken up. The board did consider a 13-acre plot with possession for the institute in H-16.
Aasan alfaaz mein
HEC ne 2007 mein Kuri mein 250 acre zameen CDA se kharidi thi aur ek arab rupay se zyada ada kar diye thay. Yeh zameen ab Margalla Enclave ke housing scheme ka hissa ban chuki hai. CDA us ke badle Sector I-17 mein sirf qareeb 25 acre de raha hai. Do sarkari universities ka plan ruk gaya hai, is liye taleem hasil karne walon ko wahan campus milne mein der ho sakti hai.
