RU to begin construction of modern students’ hall by June

The construction work of the students’ dormitory with modern facilities after the name of Shaheed AHM Kamaruzzaman, one of the national four leaders, is expected to start by June next in Rajshahi University (RU), an official said on Wednesday.

Khandaker Shahriar Rahman, Director of Planning and Development of the university, said the ten-story dormitory will be established with an estimated cost of around Tk 500 million to reduce the existing accommodation crises of students.

He said the university authorities had taken the initiative of constructing the hall after the name of AHM Kamaruzzaman in 2016. After that, a site near the pond of Suhrawardy Hall had been selected to construct the new dormitory.

RU Chancellor and President M Abdul Hamid unveiled the foundation stone of the hall on the day of 10th convocation on September 29 last year.

Shahriar Rahman said the 240,000 square feet hall will have 500 rooms in where 1,000 students will get accommodation facilities, the university also plans to install four lifts for the first time in history.

“We are very much hopeful about completion of design formulation works of the hall within this month,” said Prof Chowdhury Muhammad Jakaria, Pro-vice chancellor (VC) of RU, adding tender will be floated within one or two months.

He said the dormitory will be modern and eye-catching in design, equipped with an information and communication technology (ICT) room, various rooms with Wi-Fi facilities and departmental store, common room, reading room and prayer room as well.

“Simultaneously, we have adopted a 50-year mega plan for transforming the university into a state-of-the-art facility through expanding ICT-based academic and research works with overall development of the university’s education and infrastructure”, Prof Chowdhury said.

He added that Bangabandhu Square, university archive, international relation centre, media centre and mural of four national leaders will be installed on the campus premises under the plan, reports BSS.

This is the grand development plan in the university’s history after the country’s independence.

At present, various development works are progressing. Of those, construction works of a 20-storied academic building, two ten-storied residential buildings and a dormitory are expected to be completed by next March/April, the Pro-VC said.

A 10-storey administrative building will also be set up to accelerate the university’s academic and administrative activities.

Prof Chowdhury said as part of the mega plan all the future development activities in the university will be undertaken in a planned way.