BAHAWALPUR: The Cholistan University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences (CUVAS) will soon take measures for the establishment of four research and breeding centres for animals.
Talking to Dawn here on Thursday, CUVAS Vice Chancellor Prof. Dr.Sajjad Khan said the Punjab government after shortlisting these four centres had given the go-ahead to the university.
According to the VC, the proposed institutes included camel research centre, beef breeding research centre, centre of excellence for goats and the centre for development of new specie of chicken “Rohi Black.”
The VC said the university was taking initiatives with a view to promoting breeding particularly in the South Punjab’s three divisions of Bahawalpur, Multan and Dera Ghazi Khan. “The [three] divisions have abundant population of camels, cows, goats and chicken.”
He expressed the hope that after the establishment of the breeding centres, the CUVAS would effectively be able to serve the people of this region particularly the owners of dairy farms of all types along with the promotion of education in animal sciences.
He said the deficiency of beef, mutton and chicken would be done away with as goats, cows and camels of this area were sold in large numbers on the occasion of Eidul Azha in Karachi and other parts of the country at higher prices.
He said negotiations were in progress with Korean officials for financial and technical help in the establishment of research centres of camels and beef promotion out of these four centres.
Talking about the academic side, Prof. Dr. Muhammad Sajjad Khan said the university would play its pivotal role to impart animal science education and practical training to thousands of students annually.
He said after his appointment here, he faced the challenge of the introduction of online system and “I am proud to say that I completed this task successfully by laying IT network within the shortest time.”
The VC said the university had also facilities for M.Phil Zoology, Biochemistry, food sciences and technology and poultry science.
Regarding the faculty strength, Dr. Sajjad said the university had a total 86 faculty members, claiming 70 per cent of them PhDs.
FLU CENTRE: A flu filter centre must be established at each of the district hospital in the Bahawalpur division for the treatment of any Covid-19 suspect.
This was directed by Divisional Commissioner Asif Iqbal Chaudhry at a high-level video link meeting in the backdrop of the increasing cases of corona virus on Thursday.
The meeting was attended by the deputy commissioners of Bahawalpur, Bahawalnagar and Rahim Yar Khan in addition to the health department officials.
Published in Dawn, October 30th, 2020
