KARACHI – Five public universities in the province have been closed for the past 19 days due to the boycott of employees demanding medical allowances, residential plots and removal of contractual staff workers. Sources said the Governor’s House is not taking this issue seriously despite five universities of the province being closed down. The continuing deadlock between the government and the university employees has left more than 50,000 students in a lurch.
The educational process has been badly affected as the classes have been suspended for 19 days. Not only the classes, administration offices are also closed and the universities’ transport points are not being allowed to bring students to the campuses. The protest call from the All Sindh Universities Employees Federation (ASUEF) has resulted in the locked down of classes and administration in University of Sindh in Jamshoro, Mehran University of Engineering and Technology in Jamshoro, Liaquat University of Medical and Health Sciences in Jamshoro, Sindh Agriculture University in Tandojam and Shah Abdul Latif University in Khairpur.
The ASUEF had demanded medical allowance for university employees, residential plots in housing schemes and the removal of vice chancellors and other officers working on contract basis in the universities.
ASUEF leader told Pakistan Today on Thursday that there was no other way but to go on strike as nobody was listening to the demands of the employees for a long time.
The employees have also started a hunger strike in support of their demands outside the Karachi Press Club (KPC), saying the protest will continue until their demands are accepted.
Speaking to Pakistan Today, Sindh Governor Spokesman Wajahat Hussain said that the governor – chancellor of all public universities in Sindh – had called a meeting of all vice chancellors at the Governor’s House. The problems were discussed in the meeting and a committee headed by SM Qureshi was formed to give recommendations for resolving the issues of universities, he added. “The governor has also advised that a uniform policy should be formed for all the universities of the province,” said Hussain.
