ISLAMABAD, Oct 11: In the backdrop of ongoing financial crunch in the country, the Higher Education Commission (HEC) has formally asked all universities to defer their development projects because it has no money for this purpose.

According to an official document available with Dawn, the HEC has expressed its inability to provide funds for more than 250 development projects which are currently being implemented in public sector universities throughout the country.

“If funds are not provided as per the approved cash plan at this stage, the universities may be forced to cancel ongoing construction contracts which will lead to litigation, cost escalation and huge waste of government funds,” the document says.In a detailed analysis of the HEC’s development activities, it says that the government has released only Rs2.555 billion against the demand of Rs4.523 billion in the first quarter development grant required under the cash plan for the 284 approved projects of the HEC. This decision has dealt a severe blow to the financial health of the HEC, following on the heels of a Rs2.61 billion cut in its development grant of the fourth quarter of the last financial year.

According to the document, exchange rate fluctuation of more than 30 per cent along with a steep rise in the cost of construction material had already put the HEC in dire strait and it is finding it extremely difficult to distribute funds for the ongoing development projects.

Under an extensive Human Resource Development (HRD) project, the HEC had sent 6,500 scholars abroad for higher studies, and nearly 4,000 scholars are busy on various research projects within the country.

Considering the importance of HRD and HEC’s agreement with international universities where Pakistani students are currently studying, the commission has to divert Rs1.5 billion of the Rs2.555 billion released by the government for the first quarter of the current financial year for this purpose. Therefore, the HEC has left with little funds to support more than 250 ongoing development projects in the higher education institutions of the country.

When contacted, HEC’s adviser on HRD, Dr Mahmood Raza, said, “So far we are providing monthly stipends to all our scholarship holders studying in various countries.”

When asked whether the current financial constraints were going to affect HEC’s future scholarship programmes, he said, “I don’t know about the upcoming scholarship schemes, if the HEC would be able to carry on with those. However, we have to continue supporting our scholars abroad. We can not leave them half way through. Otherwise, it will be a major setback to the higher education sector in the country.”