Oldest and the largest university of the province, University of Balochistan is facing its worst ever financial crisis and is on the verge of closing down its academic activity after the Higher Education Commission reduced its budget by 50 percent last year, UOB Vice Chancellor Dr Abdul Nabi Khan said. He was addressing an emergency press conference at his office, while Pro-Vice Chancellor Dr Mehrab Baloch and Director General Administration Sohail Ahmad Bazai were also present.
Khan said HEC had pushed the university towards it crises when last year it had cut down the university’s budget by 50 percent and the university had also run out of Rs 222 million in grant that were provided by the provincial government. He said the university had received only Rs 464.8 million of its total budget of Rs 870 million. He said that university met only 9 percent of its budget from tuition, admission and examination fees and was dependent on the government for the remaining 91 percent of its expenditures.
The VC said the UOB had become dysfunctional and the federation, provincial government and the HEC had been informed. He said Balochistan Governor Zulfiqar Magsi, being the chancellor, had asked Chief Minister Nawab Mohammad Aslam Raisani to cut Rs 10 million from each MPA’s fund and to give it to the university, adding that while some had given it, a majority still had to hand the money in.
He said the government had given a 50 percent increase in salaries to its employees but the university’s budget had not been increased. He said that the university was bearing the extra financial burden to the tune of Rs 150 million from its own resources. Besides that, he said, university administration was bearing a burden of Rs 80 million annually under the head of house requisition for university employees and the Governor House was insistent not give house requisition due to scarcity of fund.
He said the University Act was necessary for running a high education institution and an amended act of 1996 had been dispatched to chancellor secretariat and education department and the assembly should pass it.
To a question, he said the university’s two officials were placed under suspension on the suspicion of their involvement in leakage in award list of the department of International Relations while further investigation was under progress. He said that over ten thousand students obtained their masters degree from the UOB. He also confirmed that no fund was allocated during last fiscal year for the maintenance work in the university while some required funds were earmarked for this year.
