LAHORE: Federation of All Pakistan Universities Academic Staff Association (FAPUASA) Punjab Chapter on Friday demanded that at least Rs 100 billion will be allocated in the next budget for the current expenditure of the higher education institutions and at least Rs 50 billion should be allocated for research and development.
In a press conference held at the GC University, Lahore, Dr Abdul Sattar Malik, Provincial President FAPUASA Dr Abdul Sattar Malik, General Secretary Dr Ahtisham Ali and other officials besides ASA representatives of various universities of Punjab presented their demands before the government and asked for an increase in the HEC grant.
They demanded an increase of the 25 percent special allowance for all teachers and a 75 percent tax rebate for university teachers.
Dr Abdul Sattar Malik, said that the higher education sector has been neglected for many years. The budget of the federal government has increased by 30 percent in the last four years, after which its volume has increased from Rs 5100 billion to Rs 7300 billion, but unfortunately in the meantime, the budget for the current expenditure of higher education institutions, i.e. nearly Rs 64 billion, has been frozen, leaving all of Pakistan's public sector universities in deep financial crisis and has left many universities struggling to pay salaries to the teachers and the university staff.
The provincial president said that in the last few years, the number of government and semi-government higher education institutions has increased from 100 to 140 and the number of their sub-campuses has exceeded 100, due to this increase in their size their expenditures have increases and it has become a challenge a to meet these expenditures. Moreover, instead of promoting a research culture in universities, the government has further reduced research funds over the past four years.
He added that a dark side of the situation is that universities are being forced to increase their revenues, the main source of which has been the increase in student fees. Due to this deteriorating situation, the doors of higher education are closing on the deserving poor and middle-class students.
FAPUASA Punjab strongly condemned the discrimination against senior university teachers. Provincial General Secretary Dr Ahtisham Ali said that grade 21 employees posted in federal and provincial departments have been receiving a 100 percent special allowance. It doesn't matter if you get a percentage allowance or not, but excluding Grade 20 and 21 university and college teachers from the list of special allowances is discriminatory and unjust. Therefore, FAPUASA Punjab demands that all teachers of Grade 20 and 21 be given a 25 percent special allowance like Grade 1 to Grade 19.
Dr Abdul Sattar Malik also expressed concern over the fact that the autonomy of the higher education institutions is being attacked in new ways every day for example these days the government is trying to infiltrate the bureaucracy inside the universities in the name of the Uniform Universities Act through which the HEC's sovereignty and the autonomy of the universities are being attacked. Moreover, running the universities has become an administrative nightmare because there are many forces trying to establish their dominance over universities for their vested interests. As a result, important affairs of the universities remain unresolved due to the tussle among the universities, the federal HEC, and the higher education department. This ambiguity and confusion in the functioning of the universities need to be addressed immediately.
FAPUASA officials and ASA representatives of various universities also demanded an end to discrimination against post-2000 universities in Punjab and the representation of teachers in the constitutional bodies of all universities. They demanded, the interference of bureaucracy in the said universities must be eliminated by making regular legislation.
They further said that the university teachers on BPS apply and compete to get selected for higher posts, so the time scale promotion should be granted to BPS teachers like teachers on TTS. Immediate legislation should be enacted in this regard and the recommendations sent by the Punjab University to the Chancellor's Office be approved and implemented in all the universities of the Punjab.
PUASA Punjab also expressed serious concerns over the requirement of post-PhD experience for the appointment of associate professors and professors at the universities, effective since March 31, citing working papers posted at various universities. PhDs were created as a condition of experience, but the HEC ignored the recommendations of these working papers and applied the illogical condition of post-PhD experience, which affected the appointment process of thousands of university teachers. FAPUASA demands that if the unjust requirement of post-PhD experience for the appointment of associate professors and professors were not abolished, university teachers across Punjab would go on strike.
On the occasion, Secretary ASA Punjab University Dr Amjad Abbas Khan Magsi supported the demands of FAPUASA Punjab and said that the decision taken by Governor Punjab without considering the stance of Punjab University teachers regarding ante date appointments should be withdrawn immediately. And given the promise he made in a meeting with FAPWASA Punjab officials in June last year, the decision should be reversed immediately.
It may be recalled that the Governor had asked the Punjab University to send legislation on this issue through the university Senate. Given all this, the provincial president, Dr Abdul Sattar Malik, warned that if the issue was not resolved by the Governor, the universities would become a hotbed of politics and teachers will have to go on a strike against the government policies.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2021
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