Govt funds helped UoP overcome financial issues: VC

PESHAWAR: Vice-Chancellor, University of Peshawar Prof Dr Muhammad Idrees said on Thursday that the university has solved financial issues with the assistance of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government that provided funds recently.

Discussing the financial position of the university, Dr Idrees said that the KP government had approved Rs800 million initially, and the university has already received two installments worth Rs270 million, which helped it to overcome financial problems.

“Also, the federal government is likely to release Rs1 billion to the university as supplementary grant, which would greatly help the institution repay the loans it has taken during the last several years for payment of staff salaries,” he added.

Dr Idrees dispelled the impression about rise in fees and said that some section of the press claimed it, but he added that there has been no increase in fees in any department of the university.

He said that before he took charge as vice-chancellor, the university’s senate had not held a meeting for more than two years although the body should meet twice or at least once a year.

“After I assumed charge, we convened the senate’s meeting and decided a number of key issues in the university,” he said.

Discussing the students’ research cases, he said that earlier the thesis of students would get delayed but that after he assumed charge, the university has started arranging ASRB sessions once or twice a month regularly so that the MPhil and PhD students can timely complete their studies.

By reducing the allowances of university employees from federal to the provincial level, the university would earn a good amount, which would also be one of the steps towards making the university financially independent, he said.