Public sector varsities’ vice chancellors seek release of funds

A vice chancellors’ body of public sector universities said their universities were on the brink of collapse because of government’s apathy towards them. Addressing a news conference, Vice Chancellors’ (VCs) Committee President and UET Peshawar VC Imtiaz Hussain Gilani said that all public sector universities were facing an acute shortage of funds.
He voiced his concern that the varsities might meet the same fate that had already reduced the public sector schools to ruins. He said the government was not paying increased salary to the universities employees, which it had pledged last year and current year. “Last year, the government announced 50 percent raise in the salary of the universities employees but now government has halted that raise citing that it was just a one-time raise. Similarly the employees are also not being paid 15 percent increase pledged by the government in the current year’s financial budget,” Gilani added.
Speaking on the occasion, Punjab University VC Dr Mujahid Kamran said the neighboring countries such as India and Bangladesh had been raising their varsities budget over the years but the government was instead reducing the education budget. He regretted a 30 percent cut in the universities’ fund. The representatives of universities were of the views that universities were also facing shortage of funds for development. They demanded of the government to announce special budget for universities. The warned that the employees of public sector universities were mulling to hold countrywide protest demonstration.
Earlier, in a meeting, 72 vice chancellors of public sector universities passed a resolution unanimously which read: “The VCs are unanimous in their opinion that singling out universities employees and denying them 50 pc salary raise announced last year by the prime minister and 15 pc this year is untenable, unjust and discriminatory.
The VCs strongly urge the government to provide additional grant to cover this shortfall before the simmering employees’ agitation turns ugly, vitiating the peaceful educational environment, causing irreparable loss to students and their studies.” The VCs’ meeting had been organised by the HEC to deliberate on the grave situation arising out of cuts on the universities’ grants and other problems being faced by varsities.
Many university employees in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) have already begun an agitation to demand pledged increase in their salary. VCs from Balochistan, KP could barely contain their contempt and scoffed at idea of HEC’s demand to improve quality, introducing entrepreneurship and focus on relevant research. Dr Laghari while acknowledging the challenges faced by the universities emphasised that leadership role of vice chancellors was very critical. He advised the university heads to raise funds in addition to the government funding.
“A university leader is expected to develop an administrative team and become a role model for faculty members, administrative staff as well as the students,” he said. HEC Executive Director Dr Sohail Naqvi stressed the need for sustaining higher education for the socio-economic uplift of the country. He said that universities were an integral part of the society because they had important role to play in building communities and economy.
He also suggested that the universities should raise funds. Some VCs also cited their examples saying that they had been generating 40-50 per cent of their resources. During the meeting, the vice chancellors elected UET Peshawar VC Engr Imtiaz Hussain Gilani, Liaquat University of Medical and Health Sciences Jamshoro VC D Noshad Shaikh and PU’s Dr Mujahid Kamran as members of the VCs Committee.