MUZAFFARABAD: The Vice Chancellor of the University of Azad Jammu and Kashmir Prof. Dr. Muhammad Kaleem Abbassi held a special Meeting with Dr. Mukhtar Ahmed, the Chairman of the Higher Education Commission (HEC) Islamabad on Thursday.
The Meeting was also attended by other VC,s of Public and private sector universities of Azad Jammu and Kashmir including Vice Chancellor of Mirpur University of Science and Technology, Brigadier (R) Dr. Muhammad Younis Javed, Vice Chancellor of the University of Poonch Rawalkot, Prof. Dr. Zakaria Zakir, and Vice Chancellor of Women University Bagh, Prof. Dr. Abdul Hameed.
The VC of UAJK while discussing the mutual cooperation and promotion of Higher education with Chairman HEC and he also expressed his concern over the financial, administrative, and other issues confronting to UAJK and other universities running in private sector.
During the meeting, the Vice-Chancellors of other universities unanimously conveyed to the Chairman that implementing the recent federal government budget’ increase in salaries of 30 and 35 respectively termed insufficient for the employees of the universities in view the record inflation. Dr. Mukhtar Ahmed acknowledged the challenges faced by the universities, and assured the Vice-Chancellors that the HEC is committed to addressing these issues to rectify them accordingly as a priority.
Dr. Mukhtar Ahmed informed the Vice Chancellors that the allocation for the recurring budget of higher education in the fiscal year 2023-24 amounts to 67 billion rupees, while an additional 70 billion rupees have been allocated for development projects.
The recurring grant being provided to HEC by the federal government is 67 billion since 2017 while salaries and allowances have increased almost 100 per cent over the past six years. Now it has become nearly impossible for the universities to meet their operational expenses with the current allocation, chairman HEC maintained.
Highlighting the financial difficulties faced by universities nationwide, Dr. Mukhtar Ahmed mentioned that on the request of HEC, the Baluchistan government has already provided a grant of 4 to 5 billion rupees to support universities in the province. Similar recommendations have been made to the Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa governments, urging them to address the financial constraints faced by universities in their respective provinces.
He continued as saying that, the HEC has also appealed to the Punjab government and the Azad Kashmir government to allocate resources from their budgets to alleviate the financial burden on universities within their jurisdiction on priority bases.
The Chairman HEC clarified that due to the 18th Constitutional Amendment, the responsibility of funding in the higher education sector now lies with the provincial governments. Consequently, the Federal Ministry of Finance is unable to directly provide funding to universities located other than the federal territory.
He said the Letters have been dispatched to the governments of all four provinces, including Azad Kashmir, and we awaiting their response.
Dr. Mukhtar Ahmed emphasized that provincial governments utilize their budgets and provide special financial assistance to the universities within their jurisdiction while keeping Education in view as their top priority.
He said that there are no alternative avenues available since the passage of the constitutional amendment.
The Vice-Chancellors of all universities of AJK thanked the Chairman Higher Education Commission on the occasion and expressed the hope that their genuine issues would be addressed.