Pakistan: Balochistan Assembly voices concern over financial crisis faced by Balochistan University

Quetta [Pakistan], December 20 : The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of the Balochistan Assembly has voiced concern over the financial crisis faced by the University of Balochistan, after review of the university's accounts for the financial years 2019-21, audit paras for 2021-23, and the ongoing protest by teachers demanding their salaries, Dawn reported.
While presiding over a meeting of the committee, PAC Chairman Asghar Tareen said that the University of Balochistan needs special attention and stressed that there is a need to understand and address its challenges.
Committee members Fazal Qadir Mandokhail, Rehmat Saleh Baloch, Assembly Secretary Tahir Shah Kakar, University of Balochistan Vice Chancellor Zahoor Ahmed Bazai and other officials attended the meeting, according to Dawn report.
During the meeting, the officials identified irregularities in financial and administrative matters of the university. The vice chancellor said that the university's endowment fund had been misused in 2016, with unqualified individuals sent abroad for pursuing education. Many of these individuals went missing after they travelled abroad.
The PAC chairman said that, in previous administrations, vice chancellors used their final days in office to recruit hundreds of officers and employees, many of whom were their relatives. These people were given protection after the new vice chancellor assumed office.
During the meeting, the vice chancellor said that university has to pay pension to 900 retired employees. He said an average fees of student each semester is Pakistani Rupees (PKR) 32,000, which he considered reasonable. However, the rise in student admissions to colleges due to BS programs has reduced the university's student enrollment.
In addition, the vice chancellor spoke about a reduction in the financial grant from the Higher Education Commission, according to Dawn report. The committee asked the university to focus on generating its own income because it is an autonomous institution. It also ordered the recovery of PKR 22.87 million from the university for not being able to collect house rent allowance and maintenance expenses from residential employees as per the rules.
The committee said that strict action should be taken regarding the distribution of 370 laptops in 2013-2014. Of these, 341 laptops were given to students while the remaining 29 were given to university officials, which violated the rules, Dawn reported.
The committee ordered the recovery of the cost of these laptops from the officials, either through deductions from their salaries or pensions. The committee expressed displeasure as its decisions were not being implemented and instead were being referred to the university syndicate.