LARKANA: Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto Medical University (SMBBMU) Vice Chan-cellor Prof Dr Nusrat Shah has expressed her concern over the university’s poor financial condition and said it badly needed an enhanced budget.

She said this while talking to journalists at the local press club where she came to congratulate its newly elected office-bearers and governing body.

The VC said that previous university management had inducted 125 employees without going for mandatory formalities like advertisement in the media. “They have been laid off under a decision of the recent meeting of the university syndicate,” she said.

Prof Shah said due to surplus staff hired in the past, she remained worried about the salary bill.

“The university is 15 years old, but it is quite surprising that its budget stayed static as there had been no increase in it so far,” she said, adding: “Despite unabated inflation and rise in other expenses, the present annual budget of the university remain Rs600 million.”

Owing to financial issues, she added, the former management of the university had to obtained a loan of Rs300m. “The university since then was paying a mark-up on the loan, but realising the severity of the financial conditions, the Sindh chief minister extended an aid of Rs300m which helped the university pay off the loan,” she said.

She said the varsity was confronting a host of problems, and pointed towards the worst state of hostels and poor quality of food being served to students. “Under the obtaining conditions, the university is putting in its maximum efforts to bring it at a par with international standards and ensure that it stood on its feet by overcoming the financial issues,” she said.

Students at the university complete their degree courses with a meager expense of Rs30,000 against the students of other universities as against Rs500,000 to Rs2m charged by other institutions, which obviously did not have to look for grants, she said.

Published in Dawn, June 17th, 2023