Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz has announced a medical college at the University of Rasul in Mandi Bahauddin district. Speaking to students at the university on Tuesday, she said admissions to the new college would open in January 2027.
The chief minister said the college would give students from Mandi Bahauddin and nearby areas greater access to medical training, so they would no longer need to travel to other cities for advanced study. During the same visit she also handed out laptops and scholarship cheques to university, nursing and medical students to support their studies.
Medical college and university growth in Mandi Bahauddin
Nawaz said the government was also working to set up a modern teaching hospital linked to the University of Health Sciences. The facility, she said, would support medical education and improve healthcare services in the area.
She told the audience that enrolment at the University of Rasul had risen from 149 students before she took office to nearly 3,000. According to her, the government had introduced new academic disciplines and invested in infrastructure worth billions of rupees. The new fields she listed were:
- social sciences and humanities
- life sciences
- business management
- medical and health sciences
- engineering and technology
- computer sciences
Nawaz said the expansion was meant to let young people from the district and neighbouring areas pursue degrees close to home.
Scholarships and laptops framed as student entitlement
The chief minister described the Honhaar scholarships and laptops as a right owed to students rather than a personal gift from the government. “Those who deserved this money should have received it, and that right has reached you,” she said. She added that public money should go to students according to their ability and need.
Nawaz challenged students to point to any case in which political affiliation, personal influence or a recommendation had decided who received a laptop or scholarship. She said merit would stay the only criterion for educational assistance. She also said she did not want wealthy or well-connected people to take opportunities away from deserving students.
Encouraging the recipients, she said they could grow into engineers, doctors, teachers, civil servants and future leaders. She praised students for their expressions of patriotism and asked them to respect their parents, whose sacrifices, she noted, helped pay for their education. The chief minister also said more than 68 per cent of Pakistan’s population was under 30, which made investment in education and youth opportunities essential for the country’s future.
Electric bikes for students and the Mandi Bahauddin projects
Nawaz said electric bikes would be distributed to students across Punjab starting November 5. Female students would receive pink bikes and male students black ones. The initiative, she said, was designed to let students travel on their own to schools, colleges, universities and workplaces, easing the financial strain on families.
She said the scheme would be especially useful for women, because it would reduce their reliance on relatives for transport. The chief minister had earlier announced that 100,000 electric bikes would be given out under the provincial youth initiative. According to reports of her remarks at a student event in Sahiwal earlier this month, the scheme had drawn more than 1.2 million registrations.
Nawaz also listed development work in Mandi Bahauddin, including:
- improved roads
- green buses and bus stops
- commercial areas
- a newly opened market
- a food street
- parks
She said these projects were meant to modernise the city and offer residents better transport, shopping and recreation. She also said wider government programmes covering housing, road building and public transport should be carried out without favouritism.
Law and order pledge and calls for judicial review
Turning to law and order, Nawaz said her government would protect citizens regardless of wealth or political ties. She warned that influential people accused of crimes would not be spared from the law. She referred to the alleged assault of a female scooter rider in Lahore and a case in which a customer allegedly beat a petrol station employee after being asked not to smoke because of the fire risk. She said she had intervened in both cases and urged victims not to be cowed by powerful assailants.
The chief minister also referred to the death of a 15-year-old orphan who was allegedly run over by a workshop owner in Multan after refusing to work. She said the state had a duty to protect vulnerable people who lacked family support. Nawaz said she would raise concerns with the chief justice of Pakistan and the chief justice of the Lahore High Court about the granting of bail to suspects accused of violent crimes. She argued that offenders needed to face consequences that would deter repeat offences.
Nawaz urged victims of violence to report incidents to the authorities, saying the provincial government and police would back them. She defended publicising images and videos of suspects, saying the public had a right to know that people who abuse power would be held accountable. “No poor person’s dignity should be compromised,” she said, adding that the law should treat wealthy and less privileged citizens alike. She said she would remain answerable to God and the people of Punjab and would not be deterred by the prospect of legal cases over her decisions.
