HEC refuses to release funds for Sindh varsity

Hyderabad: The Higher Education Commission has informed the University of Sindh through a letter that no funds will be released for development works at the campus, Vice-Chancellor Prof Dr Nazir A. Mughal said on Tuesday.

Speaking at a meeting of the Vice Chancellor’s Executive Council, he said that the university was trying to create resources to meet the challenges and provide quality higher education to the youth.

The Sindh government, he said, had approved Rs20 million to purchase land for the university campus in Dadu.

The meeting also discussed a report of the economic committee and appreciated efforts for minimising expenses of the university.

Presenting a report of the ongoing financial year, the director finance of the university said that the university with cuts in expenditures under different heads had saved Rs95 million.

He said that with the saving, the university would be able to pay increased salaries and pensions to its employees.The meeting agreed to enhance registration fees for MPhil and PhD admission programmes.

It also decided that conversion of MPhil to PhD programme would not be allowed and candidates would be bound to finish the two programmes separately.

It decided to prepare a list of those faculty members who availed foreign scholarships but returned without completing PhD and also another list of faculty members who completed their PhD abroad.

The meeting also finalised proposals for hiring private security for the campus.

The VC said the university had been hiring private security on the pattern of other universities.

The vice-chancellor reiterated that the deans should submit proposals for hiring faculty in case of need after allocating teaching load to the existing faculty members. The proposals would be considered before the completion of summer vacation, he said.

After beginning of the semester classes, no proposals would be considered, he said, adding that every department should concentrate on teaching and academic activities after the summer break.

The meeting formed a scholarship committee comprising deans of faculties headed by the vice-chancellor to re-allocate share of scholarships to faculty members of social sciences, Islamic studies and arts disciplines.

Another committee was formed to conduct inquiry into funds spent on construction and repairing of residential bungalows and quarters during the last five years.

The meeting also set up a committee headed by the adviser of engineering wing to review the ongoing construction work of the Faculty of Pharmacy.

A committee headed by Director of the Institute of Information and Communication Technology Dr Imdad Ali Ismaili was also constituted to check availability of computers in different departments and inspect working and efficiency of the available computers.

The meeting also decided to avail services from LUMHS for a water line to hostels for a few months till the university completes its ongoing work on water tank for the boys’ hostels. Dawn