UoP unable to fully pay staff due to financial crunch

PESHAWAR: The University of Peshawar is facing a severe financial crisis due to which it is unable to pay full salaries for the month of July before Eid, which has caused unrest to the teaching fraternity and administrative officers.

The university, in a recent notification, said full salaries would be paid to the employees from grade 1-16, while officers and teachers serving in BS 17-18 would suffer 10 percent cut and officers in BS 19 and above would have 20 percent cut. The teaching fraternity and other employees of the university have already expressed concern over the cut in salaries. According to them, it was happening for the first time during the 70 years history of the university – the oldest seat of higher studies in the province.

The Peshawar University Teachers Association in its emergency meeting on Thursday expressed concern over the situation and termed it a total failure of the university administration. In a two-page letter to the outgoing vice-chancellor of the university, the teachers’ body criticised the university administration and accused it of mismanagement and failure to run the institution in an appropriate manner. They asked some questions from the vice-chancellor about the financial matters, payments of salaries and utility bills and above all its failure to get a bailout package from the government. The University of Peshawar, like other universities of the province, is facing serious financial and administrative problems. The current administration has sought a bailout package from provincial government a few months back and the government had agreed to issue a grant-in-aid worth Rs 250m to the university. Up to Rs 100m amount has been issued to the university so far, while Rs150 million could not be released to date. The university is facing a shortfall of Rs30 million for pays and pensions. The issue of pay and payment would be solved for time being if the provincial government release the remaining amount to the university at the earliest. Reached for comments, spokesman for the university, Ali Imran, told The News that the university has suffered losses worth Rs400m due to the closure of shops, canteens, guesthouses, Baragali Campus, delay in examinations and deferred fees. He said the university was expecting Rs150 million from the provincial government this month, which the govt had pledged a few months back. Further, the HEC, due to the first month of financial year, is gradually releasing grants to the university, which is increasing its woes because the university needed more money than usual grant at this time, he said.