ISLAMABAD: Public-sector universities are in the midst of a financial crisis and are having difficulty paying employees and meeting other essential expenditures.

The PTI government has only allocated a recurring grant of Rs59.6 billion for 127 public-sector universities which have a total requirement of Rs103bn. The grant is supposed to be used to pay salaries, pensions, utility bills and meet other non-development expenses.

The universities are now looking to the Higher Education Commission (HEC) for help, while sources in the HEC said that the commission is waiting for a supplementary grant of Rs10bn that the government recently promised.

“Except for a few, almost all universities are facing a financial crunch to pay salaries, pensions etc, but without financial support from the government we cannot do anything for them,” an HEC officer said.

He said the government was responsible for releasing the funding soon, as recurring grants are not meant for development projects but for salaries.

“This year, the government allocated a smaller recurring grant compared to previous years and the rise in inflation has also multiplied our problems. We now have to pay higher utility bills,” International Islamic University Islamabad (IIUI) Rector Dr Masoom Yasinzai said.

He told Dawn that the university generates 60pc of its funding using its own resources, but is still facing financial constraints.

Quaid-i-Azam University (QAU) Vice Chancellor Dr Mohammad Ali also said that universities are having financial problems.

Dr Ali, who also heads the vice chancellors committee, said that education spending does not fall into the category of expenditure but is instead investment.

“It is investment for future generations, it is investment for the prosperity of the country,” he said, adding that vice chancellors have been taking up this matter with the HEC to obtain supplementary grants from the government.

“We are with the HEC. Whenever and wherever the HEC asks us to hold meetings with the government we will play our role, but being the regulatory body the HEC will have to play the leading role,” he said.

An IIUI official who asked not to be named said that no new universities should be inaugurated until the financial conditions of existing institutions improve.

He added that in light of the high inflation and high tariff rates and petrol and diesel prices, the government should have increased the recurring grant significantly but “this year we received less than the previous year”.

When contacted, HEC spokesperson Ayesha Ikram said the HEC’s budgetary requirements for 2019-20 was Rs103bn.

Due to the government’s financial constraints, the HEC was allocated a recurring budget of Rs59.6bn. The reduced allocation resulted in severe budgetary shortages in universities, she said, adding that the HEC has demanded an additional Rs21bn because the universities are in a severe financial squeeze.

She said the prime minister formed a committee chaired by Education Minister Shafqat Mahmood who has recommended an additional grant of Rs10bn to the economic coordination committee.

“The approval is now awaited. Once that is released, this will ease the situation until April 2020. The remaining shortfall will be taken up after that,” she said.

In a written response, she added that 50,000 scholarships worth Rs5bn have been launched under the Ehsaas Scholarship Programme and the provinces have been asked to provide additional grants to overcome the financial constraints.

Published in Dawn, February 13th, 2020