KU Finance Dept comes under fire for gobbling scholarships

Funds meant for meritorious students allegedly exhausted in paying salaries to department’s employees

KARACHI:

Recent reports hinting at misuse of student scholarships and depriving pupils have landed Karachi University’s Department of Finance in hot waters. Allegations suggest that the financial misappropriation is not a one-off incident, but rather an activity that has been going on for many years, embezzling more than 13 crores in funds, including those reserved for the Higher Education Commission’s need-based rewards and the Prime Minister’s Ehsas Programme Scholarship.

Per sources, the funds, that were meant to aid financially challenged and meritorious students, were exhausted in issuing salaries, retirement funds, pension, and other benefits to the department’s employees, at the behest of the university’s Director of Finance Tariq Kaleem and his predecessors.

In regard to this, multiple students at the public university have contacted the press to complain that their names have appeared in the Higher Education Commission (HEC) and Ehsas Programme’s scholarship lists, making them entitled to the funding. “However, whenever we visit the Student Financial Aid Office, the staff tells us that they have done their part and our cases are now pending with the office of director finance and the finance department, who are to issue the scholarships,” they said.

However, when The Express Tribune reached out to an official of the university’s finance department, he revealed on conditions of anonymity that “the student financial aid office had recently written a letter to the director of finance. There have been allegations of misuse and non-granting of scholarships to students for many years.”

Per the letter, “the scholarship funds received from the donors have been used for other purposes. The HEC’s Need Based Scholarship Fund receives an annual non-developmental grant of more than 350 million, but it has not been transferred to students.” According to the financial officer, the letter also mentions that Sindh HEC has granted scholarship money for the students, which has been in the knowledge of the Financial Aid Office. According to the financial officer, the letter also reveals the amount of money that has come in scholarships. The officer said that “if any money has been received, then we are not aware in this regard.”

When the staff contacted the office of the Director of Finance in this regard, the office told them that issuance of salaries is their first priority. On the other hand, sources in the office of the Director of Finance said that a meeting in this regard was held on 11 January 2022 in the presence of the Chief Accountant and Database Administrator, where it was urged that the Ehsas Scholarship be issued in three days. However, this scholarship is still buried under a mountain of files.

It is further learned that a separate bank account was never initiated for holding the Prime Minister’s scholarship, and rather all the money issued is stored in the university’s account. When Finance Director Tari Kaleem was probed in the regard, he claimed that the HEC’s Need-based Scholarships are scheduled to be issued in a few days. However, when asked why the funds had not been released during the last two years, the director could not offer a satisfactory response.

In addition to that, Kaleem was also asked about those who held office before him and why they could not release the funds, which he dodged saying that he can only speak on the matter after reviewing the files. Regarding the delay in payment of the Ehsas Programme’s Scholarships, the director had to consult with a colleague, who maintained that they have already released the funds that were granted and have not received any further funding.

Kaleem then urged The Express Tribune to direct the rest of its questions regarding disbursal of the scholarships to the Financial Aid Office, but officers in charge of the scholarships were available on campus owing to the expiry of public dealing hours. However, a clerk stationed outside the Financial Aid Office maintained that they have completed all work pertaining to the scholarship on their end, and the new advertisements will be issued soon.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 18^th, 2022.