HYDERABAD, Oct 14: Members of the senate committee of the Mehran University of Engineering and Technology (MUET) have recommended Rs1024.727 million annual budget for 2008-09 and requested the Higher Education Commission to pump Rs743.167 million in the university’s funds to help it offset deficit and pull through financial straits.

With the release of the grant, the university would be able to fulfil its financial requirements easily, provide quality education and conduct maximum research and academic activities, observed the committee.

The senate committee met at Jamshoro on Tuesday under the chairmanship of Sindh Education Minister Pir Mazharul Haq, who is also pro-chancellor of the universities of Sindh.

The university’s director of finance, Munir Ahmed Shaikh, presented the revised recurring budget estimates of 2007-08 of Rs820.238 million and annual budget estimates of 2008-09 of Rs1024.727 million.

Mr Shaikh said that the HEC had committed providing grant of Rs422.217 million during 2007-08 but at the end of the year, the commission released Rs339.221 million after a cut of Rs82.996 million.

MUET Vice-Chancellor Prof Dr Abdul Qadeer Rajput said that 5,701 boys and girls were enrolled at the university, 5,187 in undergraduate programs, 459 in postgraduate program and 55 in PhD.

The university having ISO-9000-2001 certificate ranked first at provincial level among public engineering universities and second at national level while it ranked five among all the engineering universities of the country, said the VC.

He said that the university was facing a financial crunch and requested the Sindh government to grant it Rs200 million help to offset its deficit.

The minister said that the government had accorded high priority to the growth of higher education by allocating huge funds and assured the university of taking up its case with the HEC for prompt support in the upcoming budget.—APP