Abdul Wali Khan University treasurers to be appointed from audits group

To address the issue of weak internal audit systems and ensuring the preparation of a sustainable budget, the provincial government has decided to appoint officers from the audit and accounts group as treasurers of varsities.

This was disclosed by Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Governor Shah Farman on Wednesday as he took notice of reports of financial irregularities in the Abdul Wali Khan University Mardan (AWKUM).

Farman, who is the de-facto chancellor of all public-run universities in the province as the governor, said that there will be no compromise on the financial discipline and merit-based system in higher educational institutions of the province.

In a statement issued on Wednesday, the governor lamented that there was no transparent audit system or only a weak internal audit system in varsities while preparing their budgets. As a result, most universities find themselves in a financial crisis.

He said that all public sector universities have now been directed to prepare their fiscal budget based on genuine requirements while fiscal audits have declared as mandatory for all the higher educational institutions in the province to trace the root cause of fiscal sustainability.

Moreover, Farman said that the provincial audit department’s director-general has been asked to conduct an audit of varsities in K-P.

To ensure financial discipline, he said that it has been decided that the treasurer in all universities will be posted from the Audit and Accounts Group in consultation with the Auditor General of Pakistan.

He said that illegal actions and nepotism in recruitment will not be tolerated while several inquiries are probing the issue of illegal recruitments in varsities.

The governor further said that concrete steps are being taken to restore the quality and standards of education in varsities, expressing his commitment to establishing a merit-based system in all public-sector universities as they are linked with the future of upcoming generations.

Talking about the proposed amendments in the Universities Act 2012, he said that they are aimed at bringing an overall merit-based and transparent system to run the affairs of universities while making vice-chancellors sufficiently strong in administrative affairs.

The governor also took notice of the issue of fake degrees issued by some public sector universities of the province.