Govt rejects special funds for KU

KARACHI:

The Sindh government has returned a summary seeking special funds for payment of house ceiling to teaching and non-teaching employees of the University of Karachi (KU), saying the provincial government has not adopted the federal policy on the allowance, The Express Tribune has learnt.

According to sources, the Finance Department has raised objections to the summary forwarded by the Universities and Boards Department, stating that universities providing house ceiling to their employees were making the payments from their own resources.

The provincial government has conveyed that it would have no objection if KU also paid the allowance from its available financial resources. However, sources said the release of any special funds for the purpose had been deemed unfeasible in view of the prevailing economic situation.

Following the objections, the KU administration is considering releasing one month's house ceiling along with employees' salaries for the current month, sources said.

The proposed payment could amount to more than Rs40 million. In the absence of a dedicated fund, the administration is considering using one of its existing sources, including the annual non-development grant received through the Sindh Higher Education Commission (HEC), the non-development grant provided by the federal HEC or an endowment fund established through a Sindh HEC grant.

It is not yet clear, however, for how long the university would be able to continue the payments if the Sindh government does not approve a special grant.

Sources said Acting Vice Chancellor Dr Tufail Ahmed was preparing a response to the objections raised by the Finance Department.

The issue has remained a major source of friction between the KU administration and employees. The Teachers' Association of the University of Karachi staged a strike for around 40 days from the first week of May over the non-payment of the house ceiling. Non-teaching employees later joined the protest.

The administration of then VC Dr Khalid Iraqi had maintained that the university did not have sufficient financial resources to pay the allowance. The administration, however, failed to convince the protesting teachers to call off their strike as differences between the faculty and the vice chancellor deepened.

The matter was subsequently discussed at the Sindh HEC in a meeting attended by its Chairman Dr Tariq Rafi, Charter Inspection Committee head Dr Sarosh Lodhi, Secretary Nauman Ahsan, Universities and Boards Secretary Abbas Baloch and Dr Khalid Iraqi. Representatives of all three KU employees' associations also attended the meeting.

The meeting decided that a summary seeking funds for payment of the house ceiling would be forwarded to the Sindh government.