LAHORE: Old Ravians and philanthropists have donated about Rs 14.91 million to the Government College University Lahore Endowment Fund Trust (GCU-EFT) during the Annual Fundraising Dinner 2018 to grant scholarships to the university’s financially-challenged students. Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi was the chief guest at the fundraising gala while Punjab Governor Malik Muhammad Rafique Rajwana and GCU Vice Chancellor Professor Dr Hassan Amir Shah were also present. Besides other alumni, Lahore High Court Justice Farrukh Irfan Khan, also an Old Ravian, donated Rs 5 million to the fund on behalf of his family. Speaking on the occasion, eminent industrialist Iqbal Z Ahmed sought the government’s approval for establishing a world class business school at GCU in the name of his parents. “Honourable prime minister and respected governor, I have a selfish reason to invite you here at GCU,” said Iqbal Z Ahmed, adding that he, his family and associates group, both from Pakistan and abroad, were already donating towards this state-of-the-art business school to GCU which was estimated to be at a cost $5 million, and they just needed the government’s approval for this very purpose. Iqbal said that the income from the school would go the GCU EFT for the scholarships of deserving students. Dr Hassan Amir Shah said that the GCU campus, built for few hundred students almost 15 decades ago, now housed more than 12,000 students, faculty and staff members. He requested the prime minister and the governor to fast track allocations from Higher Education Commission and Punjab government for establishment and completion of the university’s new campus at Kala Shah Kaku. Dr Shah appreciated the untiring efforts of the GCU EFT executive committee members, Iqbal, Mian Misbahur Rahman, Dr Parvez Hassan, Mian Muhammad Ashraf, Javed Oberoi, Zia Rizvi and Dr Khalid Manzoor Butt for strengthening the university’s endowment fund. Speaking on the occasion, PM Abbasi announced a donation of Rs 50 million on behalf of the federal government for GCU EFT, saying that the Endowment Fund of GCU was doing a great job to facilitate the deserving students. Speaking on the occasion, GCU EFT Executive Committee Secretary Dr Khalid Manzoor Butt said that this year, the trust awarded scholarships worth Rs 12.5 million to the university’s almost 550 financially-challenged students which included around 48 golden scholarships that covered the university fee and hostel expenses of a student. He said that the trust had overall awarded more than Rs 70.6 million scholarships to 2,250 students since 2009. “Yesterday, it was a big day for us when a student, who was awarded scholarship around five years back by GCU-EFT, came to donate Rs 50,000 to the fund from his salary,” the secretary said. Dr Butt told the trust donors that the scholarships were given purely on merit after the interview of candidates by the GCU Financial Aid Committee. He said that all documents of applicants from income certificates to utility bills were examined in detail, so that only truly deserving students shall get the scholarships. The Old Ravians and philanthropists, including eminent radiologist Professor Dr Safdar A Malik, Aminul Qadri, Sadia Rafique, Mian Asad Bashir, Saeed Bux, Brigadier (r) Dabeer Rizvi, Javed Habib Oberoi, Ahsan Saeed Mian and some private banks gave away donations to the trust at the dinner. Published in Daily Times, May 15th 2018.