Sindh PAC orders degree verification of all public university staff after DUHS fraud

During PAC meeting, it was revealed that 10 employees at DUHS had been hired on the basis of fake academic credentials

The Sindh Assembly’s Public Accounts Committee has ordered the verification of academic degrees of all employees of public-sector universities across the province by the Higher Education Commission  within three months.

The directive was issued on Wednesday after it emerged that 10 employees at the Dow University of Health Sciences (DUHS) had been hired on the basis of fake academic credentials.

The PAC meeting, chaired by Nisar Ahmed Khuhro, examined audit paras of DUHS for the years 2022 to 2025. Audit officials informed the committee that the university spends Rs2.33 billion annually on employees’ salaries, yet its administration had hired staff over various periods without verifying their degrees.

Vice Chancellor Dr Nazli Hussain told the PAC that DUHS has 3,500 employees, of whom 2,500 are working on contract. Verification of their degrees is under way, she said, adding that so far the credentials of 10 employees have been found to be fake, resulting in their termination. Two more employees with fake degrees have been issued final show-cause notices.

During scrutiny of audit paras of the Larkana Municipal Corporation, audit officers raised objections to the disbursement of pensions to retired employees without obtaining their life and no-marriage certificates. The municipal commissioner told the PAC that the corporation has 1,150 employees and 150 pensioners, but only 34 pensioners had submitted the required certificates to the audit team.

PAC member Taha Ahmed observed that the absence of certificates from the remaining pensioners indicated that pension payments may be fraudulent. Chairman Khuhro questioned why the SAP-based system used by the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) was not being implemented across local councils to curb fake salaries and pension disbursements.

The additional secretary of the local government department informed the committee that by February or March 2026, salaries and pensions of employees of local councils in Hyderabad, Larkana, Sukkur, Mirpurkhas and Shaheed Benazirabad will be shifted online under the SAP system.

The PAC directed that, as a first step, salaries and pensions of employees of all municipal corporations across Sindh be moved online through the SAP digital system to prevent fake payments.