Despite the passage of more than six months, the University of Karachi (KU) is reluctant to grant affiliation to the Pakistan Institute of Tourism and Hotel Management (PITHM), reportedly due to the small number of students enrolled at the institute, Pakistan Today has learnt. Prior to the devolution under the 18th Constitutional Amendment of federal government institutions to the provincial governments, the institute was working under the administrative control of the federal tourism ministry; however, it was transferred under the Sindh government authorities a couple of months ago. The PITHM is a state-run institute and became the property of Sindh government after devolution in the first week of April 2011. Well-placed sources told Pakistan Today that after the institution being handed over to the Sindh province, the PITHM Board of Directors decided to seek affiliation from the KU in order to start classes of degree courses in various disciplines. “The PITHM moved an application seeking KU’s affiliation six months ago but no response has been received so far from the varsity authorities.” The decision to seek KU affiliation was made after the authorities took a U-turn on their earlier decision giving the PITHM the status of a university along with the establishment of four campuses in Hyderabad, Benazirabad, Khairpur Mirs and Larkana district headquarters. A committee was also constituted that drafted the bill and the Sindh Law Department approved the draft. In the draft bill, the name of PITHM was proposed to be changed to Zulfikar Ali Bhutto Shaheed Institute of Tourism and Hotel Management. In the Annual Development Programme 2011-12, the government had also proposed a project for the establishment of four campuses at a cost of Rs100 million with an allocation of Rs 10 million for the running year. The sources told Pakistan Today that the KU administration did not want to grant affiliation to small institutions where only a small number of students are enrolled.
