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Community Development Activities at IAS
Akhuwat SITE Summit & inauguration of 'Dastarkhuwan'

Community Development Activities at IAS
Akhuwat SITE Summit & inauguration of 'Dastarkhuwan'


LAHORE: (Wednesday, April 4, 2018): The month of April 2018 is marked for yet another significant contribution of Institute of Administrative Sciences (IAS) towards community development. Students of BS Management (2014-18) had worked with dedication towards Akhuwat Clothes Bank drive lead by Dr. Shahid A. Zia – adjunct faculty member at IAS. A ceremony, Akhuwat SITE Summit was organized to appreciate the efforts of those students that have collected 32,000 clothes this year. IAS has been conducting this clothes bank drive on annual basis since last few years and now the overall collection by IAS has reached to a remarkable number of 100,000 clothes. Dr. Shahid A. Zia addressed the audience of the ceremony and highlighted the importance of community work by students alongwith their studies and other educational activities. Dr. Nasira Jabeen, while congratulating students on achieving this milestone of helping the community, said in her address that we at IAS not only educate students for public administration but also encourage and facilitate them to revive publicness in their daily tasks. Prof. Jabeen named it Community Social Responsiveness (CSR) that all students should be aware of, so that, they are able to balance their lives and make this world a better place to live in. The Director also shared with the students and guests about other community development projects that IAS students, staff and faculty take part in, including the Blood donation Camps, Go Green Drive, projects at Fountain house, and a recent initiative of subsidized meals at the institute named as “Dastarkhuwan”. She then invited Mr. Shahid Lone, IAS alumnus and Director Mansha Brothers who shared about the Dastrkhuwan initiative that is a social enterprise. Mr. Shahid shared the history of inception of ‘Datarkhuwan’ that took place few years back and how it has impacted the lives of many underprivileged children of certain areas of the city. They have been providing meals to school children. Their sole purpose is to provide healthy, hygienic and balanced meals to all to eradicate malnutrition and stunted growth in our coming generations. Datsrkhuwan will be providing meals to IAS employees and students will also be channelized to work voluntarily for the operations of this noble initiative.

Dr. Amjad Saqib presented closing address of the ceremony. His mesmerizing speech left a great impact on audience where he preached all to ‘start small and think big’ by sharing various philanthropic projects and initiatives started under the umbrella of Akhuwat. Dr. Amjad Saqib shared about the university being built for the students who cannot afford to pay for their fee and another inclusion project for transgender community to make them a comfortable part of our society. First research thesis conducted on transgender by IAS student - Ms. Beenish, was also presented to Dr. Amjad Saqib. He distributed certificates to all the students who have been a part of the clothes bank drive.

Followed by SITE summit, the inauguration ceremony of Dastarkhuwan was conducted. Dr. Amjad Saqib – Chairperson Akhuwat, Prof. Dr. Nasira Jabeen – Dean FEMS and Director IAS, Dr. Shahid A. Zia, Mr. Shahid Lone – Director Mansha Brothers, Mr. Jamil Ahmad Khan – Senior Vice President National Bank of Pakistan (NBP), Mr. Muhammad Ali, Mr.and Mrs. Farman Ch., and faculty members including Prof. Dr. A.R. Jafri, Mr. Muhammad Zahid, Dr. Ali Rehman, Dr. Yaamina Salman, Dr. Sidra Irfan, Dr. Amani Moazzam, Dr. Nighat Ansari, Ms. Iman Saleem and Ms. Rabeea Nawaz joined. Administrative team including Mr. Shahzad Ahmad, Ms. Riffat Umbreen Afzal, Ms. Sameen Zaki (Manager External Linkages) were also present at the occasion.

Dr. Amjad Saqib spoke to the janitor staff, appreciated their work towards the institute and recognized the importance of their work in order to sustain the institute. All members prayed for the foundations laid for the noble cause. As a part of the Go Green drive, Dr. Amjad Saqib also took part in tree planting activity. The first meal by Datarkhuwan was served to all IAS employees today with prayers for continuity and expansion of the project at the University level.