SAHIWAL: A scam of alleged misappropriation of semesterfees of 40 students of the University of Sahiwal (UoS), to the tune of Rs792,689, has surfaced, involving a private commercial bank’s branch in Farid Town.

UoS Vice Chancellor Prof Dr Javed Akhter says an inquiry committee, led by Prof Dr Hafiz Tariq Masood, head of the varsity disciplinary committee, has been formed to investigate the matter.

As per varsity sources, the fee vouchers of around 40 students from four departments of the varsity show that a total amount of Rs821,729 was deposited as their full semester fees in the Farid Town branch of the private bank.

However, the sources say, the bank statement received by the university’s accounts department shows only Rs29,040 in fee collections, raising serious concerns about the missing amount.

As per varsity officials, each student receives three copies of their semester fee vouchers — one is retained by the bank, another by the student, and the third is sent to the university’s accounts department.

They sources say that there are discrepancies in the figures mentioned on the students’ fee vouchers and the bank copies, as the former show a deposited amount of Rs1,800 under some head, while the latter reflect Rs180 only. Similarly, they say that a deposited amount of Rs2,500 has been mentioned in the bank copies as Rs500.

They say that despite such manipulations, all the three copies of vouchers bear the bank’s official stamp.

A source familiar with the matter, speaking anonymously, suggested that such manipulations were not possible with involvement of bank staffers.

A female student, also speaking anonymously, said she had given Rs20,000 semester fee to a fellow male student, requesting him to deposit the amount in the bank. She was issued a voucher for Rs20,000, but the bank records show only Rs200 deposit.

The sources say that in some cases, no deposit was made, but the students were handed vouchers with bank stamp indicating full fee payment.

They say the irregularities were detected when the bank’s statements failed to match the total semester fee vouchers issued by the varsity’s account department to the students.

The alleged misappropriation of fees was noticed in the vouchers of students of English, DBA, Psychology and Commerce departments, they add.

A senior university official says that the inquiry committee is also investigating some male students, adding that they may have forged the bank stamps and misappropriated the fee amounts.

Sources privy to the investigation say that the probe committee has been tasked with submitting its report, identifying those responsible for the bungling of the fees.

They say that an automated fee deposit system should have been installed within university premises for issuing printed fee vouchers to students, instead of the hand-written vouchers to avoid the situation.

Published in Dawn, May 29th, 2025