K-P to loan Rs250 million to bail out UoP

Jhagra advises UoP administration to cut allowances, unwanted expenditures

PESHAWAR: With one of the oldest universities of the country struggling to even pay the salaries and pensions of its employees, the provincial government came to its aid on Monday, announcing to loan the institution Rs250 million.

The university, though, has been asked to rationalize its expenses as per its income, including putting a freeze on further recruitments.

The decision to provide a loan to the University of Peshawar (UoP) was taken during a high-level meeting on Monday comprising the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) Finance Minister Taimur Saleem Jhagra, Higher Education Commission (HEC) Secretary Arshad Khan, and UoP Vice-Chancellor Dr Asif Khan.

During the meeting, the UoP Vice-Chancellor Dr Asif briefed the provincial finance minister about the financial crisis faced by the university.

Dr Asif said that the main reasons for the financial crunch were the recruitment of additional staff in various departments of the university during the previous governments. Another major expenditure, he said, was the allowances granted and unnecessary expenditures made by various teaching and management staffers.

He argued that the government provide the varsity with around Rs400 million.

Jhagra urged the UoP administration to curb its unnecessary expenditures, including the provision of extra allowances, lower its unwanted expenditures as the provincial government cannot bail out the university every time it runs out of funds.

The meeting decided that the provincial government will provide the university with an Rs250 million loan. In the first phase, Rs100 million will be released immediately, while the remaining Rs150 million will be released in the coming days.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 4^th, 2020.