PESHAWAR: The Campus Peace Corps has become a financial burden on four universities, including University of Peshawar, which is facing the Rs1 billion default on account of electricity charges, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly was told on Wednesday.

Speaking on his cut motion on grant for the higher education department, Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal MPA Inayatullah Khan disclosed that four universities faced financial problems due to the force.

He said the management of the University of Peshawar had informed the Chief Minister’s Secretariat through a letter that the dues of electricity against the Campus Peace Corps had reached around Rs1 billion since 1989.

House passes budget, demands for grants

The letter said: “The subject was also taken up with the Inspector General of Police for the payment of outstanding amount but in vain.”

It added that the University of Peshawar was engulfed with severe financial crunch and one of its main reasons was huge expenditure on electricity bills.

The campus has three types of security arrangements, armed watchmen, police force and campus security force headed by a retired military officer. The last was one raised in the wake of militant attack on the Army Public School in Dec 2014.

Mr Inayatullah drew the house’s attention towards the mushroom growth of public sector universities in the province and said the higher education institutions were in deep crisis due to the situation.

He asked if the government was ready to enforce moratorium on new universities in the province to pull the existing universities out of financial crisis.

The lawmaker proposed to formulate a formula for the judicious distribution of grant among universities.

He said the establishment of Higher Education Council in the province was mandatory after the devolution of higher education to the provinces but KP did not form it.

Mr Inayatullah demanded the constitution of a parliamentary committee to look into affairs of Educational Testing and Evaluation Agency (Etea) over a paper leak.

He said the sequence and pattern of papers designed by the agency for entry test for admission in medical colleges was faulty.

The lawmaker said there was no negative marking in entry test conducted by Etea Punjab, while KP Etea implied negative marking for wrong answer.

“As a result of negative marking, 50 percent of the candidates for entry tests in Punjab get 60 percent marks, while in KP, only five percent candidates obtain 60 percent marks,” he said. He said the students in Punjab and other provinces were outnumbering local residents in private medical colleges of KP.

Speaker Mushtaq Ahmad Ghani, who chaired the proceedings, asked Chief Minister Mahmood Khan to convene a meeting of Etea to discuss matters.

Speaking on his cut motion, Awami National Party MPA Khushdil Khan highlighted the lack of boarding facilities in public sector universities and said regular students lived in private hostels and thus, being vulnerable to multiple social hazards, including drugs.

He asked the government to construct hostels to cope with the accommodation issues in universities.

Mian Nisar Gul of the MMA pointed out that the government did not allocate funds for the Khushal Khan University, Karak, in the current budget.

He also highlighted shortage of girls colleges in Karak and said students had to go to Kohat to for higher education.

Sardar Yousaf of the PML-N demanded special grant for Hazara University, Mansehra, and reconstruction of schools in the district.

He said around 800 schools had destroyed in the Oct 2005 earthquake, while only 250 of them had so far been reconstructed.

The chief minister, who holds the higher education portfolio, said the demands and suggestions of opposition would be entertained.

He promised one mega project for every district in the next budget.

The chief minister said the government would strengthen the Etea to ensure transparency in entry tests for professional colleges.

He said after the recent paper leak incident, he asked the Intelligence Bureau to probe the matter, while two low-grade employees were suspended.

The house approved 57 demands for grants worth Rs618 billion and passed the annual budget along with the finance bill.

The house will begin discussion on supplementary budget on Thursday.

Before discussion on demands for grants, two MPAs-elect, including Sardar Khan of the PML-N and Waqar Ahmad Khan of the ANP, took oath.

The house also offered fateha for Sardar Haider Zaman, who remained its member twice.

The members appreciated his services for the province, especially for Hazara region.

Published in Dawn, October 25th, 2018

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