PESHAWAR: The employees of University of Peshawar (UoP) on Monday staged protest demonstration against non-payment of their salaries and pension for the month of March.

A large number of employees also blocked the busy Jamrud Road outside the university campus and chanted slogans against provincial government and university administration. Due to blockade of road, motorists and commuters suffered a lot in the hot weather.

President of Class-III Association Imtiaz Khan told Dawn that the historic UoP was facing a lot of financial problems while its administration and provincial government were not taking any pragmatic step to resolve those issues.

He said that the university paid salaries for the month of March in instalments to low ranking employees. He said that only 40 per cent salaries were paid to faculty members while retired employees were yet to get their pension.

He said that their protest would turn more severe if arrangements were not made to pay their salaries and pensions on time.

Meanwhile, Peshawar University Teachers Association has written a letter to Chief Minister Sohail Afridi to seek financial relief for the university.

“We write to you with deep concern and a sense of urgency regarding the situation at University of Peshawar, an institution that has, for more than 75 years, shaped the lives, careers and aspirations of the people of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa,” says the letter.

For generations, this university has been more than a place of learning. It has been a pathway to opportunity for thousands of families, a training ground for the province’s teachers, civil servants, and professionals, and a quiet but powerful force behind the region’s social and economic progress, it says.

Its strength has always rested not only in its legacy, but in the dedication of the people who serve it. “Today, those very people are under severe strain. Half of the salaries for March remain unpaid (Rs131 million), and pensions for the same month (Rs162 million) have not been released at all,” states the letter.

Many employees and pensioners are now struggling to manage basic household expenses, rent, utilities, medicines and their children’s education.

For some, this is no longer a matter of inconvenience, but of genuine hardship. What is most troubling is the uncertainty ahead. The university does not have resources to ensure salaries and pensions in the coming months.

This has created anxiety and distress across the university community -- among those who teach, those who support, and those who have already given their years in service.

Despite repeated delays over the past year, the faculty and staff have continued their work with patience and dignity. Classes have not been disrupted; students have not been abandoned. But there is a limit to how long this can continue without assurance or relief.

Public universities exist because the state invests in them, not only financially but as a commitment to its people and its future. When such institutions struggle to pay those, who sustain them, it is not just an institutional issue; it touches the lives of families across the province, says the letter.

Published in Dawn, April 28th, 2026