PESHAWAR: Peshawar University Teachers’ Association held a meeting to ponder over the financial crunch leading to non-payment of staff salaries in the province’s oldest varsity for the first time in its history.

A press statement issued here said that the meeting headed by Puta president Prof Fazal Nasir and general secretary Suleiman Khan decided to make sure the university administration paid salaries to all the staff timely for the month of July.

They vowed to use all means for the purpose.

Teachers ask admin to pay salaries to employees for month of July

They said their valid demand must be heard otherwise they would be forced to go to any extent.

The Puta representatives also demanded of provincial and federal governments to provide relief to UoP.

They said that Higher Education Commission should help UoP financially on emergency basis. The financial hurdles would disrupt the academic activities in the university, they added.

The UoP has been facing a deficit of Rs1,100 million.

The government has been announcing 10 per cent increase in salaries in almost every budget but has not provided funds to the university, which has the burden of 1,500 pensioners.

Ali Imran, the media officer of UoP, talking to Dawn earlier had admitted that the university had been facing financial crunch and there might be trouble in paying salaries to the staff for the month of July.

There could be cuts, for the first time in the history of UoP, from the salaries of the officers since the university had not been receiving enough funds from HEC.

Mr Imran had said that Public Sector Development Fund for universities was reduced from Rs65 billion to Rs59 billion.

He said that expected flow from the HEC was Rs1,405 million but UoP got only Rs1,250 million thus a deficit of 155 million put it in a financial crunch, affecting the payment of salaries to the staff.

He said that the UoP raised examination fee but could not increase tuition fees as it earlier stirred protests by students and it was not a solution as well.

“We needed Rs222 million and HEC released only Rs80 million to UoP. The university has only Rs80 million so we are still facing deficit here. We would be taking back subsidy from the senior ranking officers of UoP,” said Mr Imran.

He said that federal and provincial government should help the oldest public sector university of the province that had not many options to generate funds.

“We need onetime funds allocation or recurring budget so we could pay the pensioners and staff,” he said.

Published in Dawn, August 2nd, 2019