Peshawar varsity staff to get basic pay only next month.

PESHAWAR -- The University of Peshawar, the oldest public sector varsity of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, informed its staff members on Thursday that they would be paid only basic pay portion of the salary for the current month due to financial constraints.

According to the university, it will not be able to pay employees house rent, ad hoc, PhD, entrainment, orderly and conveyance allowances, and perks other than basic pay for the month of Jan payable on Feb 1, 2021.

A notification issued by the register said, 'As such, only basic pay plus personal pay will be disbursed for the month of January 2021.'

The development came in the midst of the growing financial crisis plaguing the public sector universities of the province.

Dire financial straits cited as reason for decision

Around three weeks ago, the Islamia College University had asked the provincial government for a bailout package to manage dire financial straits.

A senior UoP staff member told Dawn that the ballooning financial crisis had forced the varsity into curtailing the payment of full salary to staff members.

He said currently, the university faced a shortage of Rs700-800 million.

'Last year, the varsity deficit was around Rs300 million but it has nearly doubled, now,' he said, adding that the university's pension liability stood at Rs1 billion.

He said the university struggled to pay pension, commutation and other dues to the former and current employees.

The senior employee said the current prolonged Covid-19 pandemic had also contributed to the financial crisis as the closure of universities had also delayed fee payment by students.

He said the university was in contact with both Higher Education Commission and provincial government for assistance.

'The University of Peshawar had asked the provincial government for a bailout package, which led to an allocation of Rs250 million. However, only Rs150 million was paid. The remaining amount has been subjected to a reforms package proposed by the higher education department,' he said.

Dr Fazli Nasir, president of the Peshawar University Teachers Association (Puta), told Dawn that the university had been facing financial crisis since 2013.

He said the university's pension and pay liabilities had been rising exponentially due to the absorbing annual pension and pay raise to their staff.

Dr Nasir said the basic pay amounted to only 45 per cent of the salary and it would have devastating consequences for low-grade employees.

He also said the...