KARACHI ( TARIQ REPORT )
Taking forward its pledge to contributing to the societal uplift, the students and faculty of Pakistan’s leading science and technology institution, Usman Institute of Science and Technology conducted a distinctive drive for cleaning and painting at District Municipal Cooperation (DMC) East under its CSR program “Lets Own Karachi”.
The CSR drive “Lets Own Karachi”, conceived by UIT alumni, Engr. RanaTehseen Ahmed Khan and Engr. Umar aims at generating awareness among fellow ‘Karachites’ to play their constructive role in betterment of Karachi city under the spirit of portraying their ownership of the city. The city, long neglected by the people and institutions alike has been a hotbed of widespread civic issues hampering convenient citizenry.
The drive kick started at DMC East where over a hundred students from both the Electrical and Computer Science Departments of UIT participated in cleaning and painting the Hassan Square Bridge. The City Traffic Police and City Government cooperated and facilitated the students in undertaking their civic duty.
The DMC East provided refreshments to the volunteers as a goodwill gesture. Deputy Mayor Karachi, Dr.Arshad Abdullah Vohra, along with DMC East chairman Moeed Anwar and KMC Social Media Wing Head visited the volunteers to express his appreciation and encouragement. The Mayor promised to give away certificates of appreciation to the participants for setting a positive precedent for other to follow.
Sharing his thoughts on this, Dr.Zahir A. Syed, Director UIT said: “UIT emphasises upon its students to become change agents in the society to alter the course of things that is detrimental to progress.We cannot possibly improve a thing which we are not ready to own. We keep our homes best maintained because we own them. Why do we fail to reflect that the cities we live in are bigger homes for ours and they shouldn’t be in such shabby conditions. I am pleased that our students are out to reclaim the ownership of Karachi to restore its splendour and they will exemplify good citizenship for fellow citizens. I am thankful to our Police and city government for their cooperation in this regard. UIT encourages community services to bring about a socially responsible generation and as a payback to the society. We will look into ways of expanding the scale of our community services and social responsibility program. ”
The campaign led by UIT faculty and students is expected to prompt action from the citizens of Karachi to ensure cleanliness and beautification of Karachi by owning it as a shared home. Often dubbed as the ‘mini Pakistan’, Karachi is home to millions of Pakistanis from across the country and the hub of economic activity which generates major chunk of the national GDP. The campaign calls upon citizens of Karachi to move to restore the blemished image of the city.