SWABI, June 18: The Ghulam Ishaq Khan Institute of Engineering, Sciences and Technology has approached the federal government for a grant of Rs100 million a year for the next three years to cope with the financial crisis, official sources said.

They said the GIKI had experienced a severe financial problem mainly because of the consequences of the government’s economic policies. During the last few years, the rupee devalued by almost 100 per cent and is continued depreciation had resulted in a Rs400 million loss to the institute.

Sources said the Society for Promotion of Engineering Sciences and Technology had invested in NIT units in accordance with the requirements of the government rules whose value was guaranteed by the government. But a withdrawal of the sovereign guarantee by the government resulted in almost 50pc decline in the value of units. The government did not provide loan-rescheduling facility, the sanctions imposed on the institute after the nuclear tests in May 1998, and the lack of a worthwhile growth in GDP were all the main causes which had affected the financial position of the institute.

The NWFP government has allocated Rs5 billion for scientific and technical education. The GIKI hopes that it will get its due share out of the funds, the sources said, adding that Governor Syed Iftikhar Hussain Shah had assured the GIKI administration that the government would provide financial assistance to share its burden.

The sources said that the name of GIKI had been removed from the list of organizations banned by the Western countries, which means the release of institute’s withheld equipment and freedom to purchase other laboratory equipment as the Western countries had been assured that GIKI would not be used for nuclear research.

After this assurance, sources said, it was expected that the institute would get grant from the Western countries and its financial position would be strengthened in the next few months.

After the 1998 nuclear explosions the institute high-ups feared that if it continued to affiliate with Dr Abdul Qadeer Khan then the developed world would stop the aid. Therefore, the sources said, the portraits of Dr Khan were removed from all the places inside the institute and he no longer had any say in GIKI’s board of governors.

Also, the gold medal which was named after Dr Khan and awarded for overall best performance in academic and co-curricular activities among all the faculties has been renamed as Quaid-i-Azam gold medal after five years.