Proposal to change name of PITHM to ZABITHM

Sindh Tourism Department has proposed the name of Pakistan Institute of Tourism & Hotel Management (PITHM) as the Zulifqar Ali Bhutto Shaheed Institute of Tourism & Hotel Management (ZABITHM). The committee is working on the draft of law in this regard which would be tabled in Sindh Assembly after the upcoming budget session, Business Recorder has learnt on Thursday.
Federal Government had notified the devolution of Tourism Ministry along with four other ministries in the first week of April 2011. PITHM is ever first official institute of the country in the industry of Tourism and Hotel Management which has became the property of Sindh Government after 44 years of its establishment in the wake of devolution.
The PITHM has 31 regular employees while some visiting faculties are also part of teaching faculty. The institute has seven spacious class rooms, one Training Restaurant, Kitchen, Bakery and a big hall for seminars with sitting arrangements of about 200 people, Library, student's common room and canteen.
Sindh Tourism Department, a few weeks ago, has taken the administrative control of the institute, Minister for Tourism, Ayaz Soomro, who has also portfolio of Law, visited the institute and got the briefing from concerned officials about the employees, salaries, budgets, material, functions, courses, fees, sources of revenue generation and other issues.
Mr Soomro, who is taking keen interest in development of Tourism and Hotel management sectors, has established his office in the building of PITHM so that he could look after all issues of PITHM himself and could work more for the strengthening of institute.
Talking to Business Recorder, Ayaz Soomro has confirmed that he has assigned some of the experts of his Law department for making of draft of law regarding PITHM which would be tabled in Sindh Assembly after the Budget session.
He said that in the law draft, the name of PITHM would be changed as Zulifqar Ali Bhutto Shaheed Institute of Tourism & Hotel Management (ZABITHM) because our leader had established the institute. He said that he has made a few meetings with concern officials of the PITHM and assigned some of them for the further development of institute. He said that we have opened official account of institute with approval of Minister for Finance, Syed Murad Ali Shah, as we can handle all the financial issues of PITHM ourselves.
We are working on the enhancing of capacity building of PITHM, for that, we would made Marriage Hall at the empty plot nearby institute, which is property of PITHM, as the students can learn practical education and institute could generate revenue more, he concluded.
M. Shaukat Ali, Deputy Director in Charge of PITHM, has expressed satisfaction over the transfer of PITHM to Sindh Tourism Department and said that we don't have any problem after the devolution of the institute. Talking to Business Recorder at his office, he said that though PITHM has been transferred to Sindh government yet we all employees are receiving salaries from Federal government as per routine so far. He told that Sindh is very lucky because PITHM had been established in Karachi and it has been transferred to Sindh Government because there are only two government Hotel Management and Tourism institutes, the second one is in Peshawar.