Salaries of public sector varsity VCs increased

The Government of Sindh has increased the salaries of vice-chancellors of public universities in the province to match the maximum TTS scale.

According to the notification, the minimum salary of vice-chancellors will now be Rs684,450, which is an increase of around Rs20,000 per annum. Additionally, the 'vice-chancellor allowance', which is 20% of the basic salary, will now be over Rs136,000 after the recent increase. With this allowance, the monthly salary of VCs will now exceed Rs820,000.

The notification issued by the Department of Universities and Boards with the approval of the Sindh chief minister allows all VCs to avail of their remaining tenures at the same ratio. It is worth noting that five VCs were appointed in Sindh just a day ago, but there are also several VCs who are in their second, third, or fourth year of their current tenure. Therefore, they will benefit greatly from this notification.

Earlier on June 20, The Express group published a detailed and investigative report regarding the unequal and low salaries of VCs in the province. The report highlighted that some VCs were receiving salaries equal to or slightly higher than professors, while others were receiving salaries ranging from Rs1 million to Rs3 million due to the absence of a fixed upper limit.

Additionally, a former VC had received a monthly salary of approximately Rs3 million through his tenure without the approval of the relevant authority and the chief minister.

However, the notification issued for the salary increase does not specify the upper limit for VCs' salaries. The notification refers to this increase as the 'standardisation/rationalisation of salaries'.

It may also be noted that the Higher Education Commission in Islamabad has approved a minimum monthly salary of Rs1 million for VCs of public universities across the country in its last meeting. However, due to delays from the HEC in Islamabad, no progress has been made in this regard at the provincial level in Sindh.