Varsities asked to mend ways

PESHAWAR: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly Speaker Mushtaq Ahmad Ghani has warned the administrations of public sector universities to mend ways as they were not above accountability.

The speaker, who is chairman of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) while chairing a meeting of the committee, said independence of the universities did not mean they were not answerable. He said the universities should not be made places of employment but seats of learning. Mushtaq Ahmad Ghani said the higher education institutions should not be run on the pattern of Moghul Empire. He said the PAC would check the audit of a university every month. The PAC was reviewing the audit report of Higher Education Department for the financial year 2014-15 wherein irregularities of Rs11.23 million were found in the audit of Gomal University, DI Khan for 2012-13. The PAC ordered recovery from the officials concerned. The meeting also discussed the advance payments of University of Malakand during 2011-12 and ordered re-audit of the Rs7.2m adjustment.

The PAC found that a house was hired for the vice-chancellor of University of Haripur despite drawing the house rent in the salary and Rs1.189m extra were spent from the exchequer.