Fapuasa announces countrywide protests over financial crunch in universities.

KARACHI -- Expressing concern over the deepening financial crisis at institutions of higher learning across the country, the Federation of All Pakistan Universities Academic Staff Association (Fapuasa) announced on Tuesday the launch of protest rallies to press the government to allocate 'adequate funds' in the budget for financial year 2023-2024.

In a statement jointly issued by Fapuasa and its central executive council, the teachers announced that they would hold rallies and budget seminars on May 18 (tomorrow) at universities and outside the press clubs across the country for the allocation of Rs500bn under the heading of the recurring budget and Rs200bn for development purposes in the new budget.

'Several universities in the country have been facing prolonged closure for over a month after they failed to pay salaries to their staff in recent months. The situation is alarming, particularly in the universities of Balochistan, and we demand that the government allocate and release adequate funds to the institutions,' Prof Kaleemullah Bareech, head of the association, said.

The situation, he said, developed after the Higher Education Commission (HEC) slashed the meagre allocation of Rs65 billion.

'There has been no increase in the budget for higher education since 2017. In fact, there has been a 15 to 20 per cent deduction this year in the yearly meagre allocation of Rs65bn, forcing universities, particularly in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa...