IUB Employees Awaiting Salaries As Eid Is About To Reach

Wraa Noor

Islamabad: The academic and non-academic employees of Islamia University of Bahawalpur (IUB) have demanded that the top management immediately release their salaries for the month of March.

According to university sources, the Islamia University of Bahawalpur has run out of funds, and the teaching and non-teaching staff haven’t yet received their salaries, which has stirred unrest among many as Ramazan is about to end.

An assistant professor of the University who requested not to be named told The PenPK.com that despite the passage of 10 days, all the university employees are still waiting for their due salaries, which include nearly 1,500 teaching staff. There is confusion among all as to when the salaries of staff will be provided, the assistant professor added.

Due to the increasing intensity of Ramazan and the approaching Eid holidays, household expenses are significantly increasing; however, there is no hope for the university employees to get their salaries, said another faculty member of the IUB.

Therefore, the faculty members are feeling anxious, distrustful, and worried about their futures at the university. The employees are eager to know how the funds allocated for their salaries have been utilised, he added.

IUB Assistant Professor Engineering Qaiser Ijaz stated that the university has had a flawless history of timely disbursement of salaries on the last day of the month for 45 years, but since 2019, the delay has become the new normal. Despite the increased income and surplus budget, the university’s treasury is simply too empty to even pay the grade 1–15 employees, he added.

Engr Ijaz further said that Bahawalpur is not a big city where university faculty members could find an alternative economic activity to run their basic kitchen. With already hard-hit inflation, faculty members are in complete mental stress.

Engr Qaiser informed that there have been many recorded violations of standard operating procedure and the university act during this tenure. “The university hired more people than it advertised, spent millions on public relations, created too many meaningless directorates and centres, and held too many political gatherings; in fact, the vice chancellor ran the university like he was going to run for mayor of Bahawalpur city in the future,” he told.

“If we have a look at the findings of the Chief Minister Inspection Team (CMIT), which investigated the abuse of power and illegal acts of the incumbent vice chancellor for two long years, the reasons unfold plainly,” he said.

Assistant Professor mentioned that in December 2022, CMIT recommended the Chancellor not only remove him from office but also bar him from serving any government institution in the future. The political crisis in the province also contributed to the situation; otherwise, we were hopeful for the implementation of this inquiry’s recommendations, he added.

Mr Ijaz informed that the Teachers’ Rights Association is organising the faculty members to protect the right to employment as the future remains uncertain.

The administration’s silence and non-serious attitude over the university’s financial crisis pose a big question mark on the overall management of a renowned public sector university in Pakistan.

Earlier on Wednesday, the non-academic staff of the IUB staged a protest demonstration, demanding payment of their salaries for the month of March. The non-teaching staff assembled in the university premises, from where they proceeded to the Bahawalpur Press Club, where they staged a demonstration and chanted slogans in support of their demands.

Meanwhile, the academic staff on Thursday also held a meeting to evolve a strategy to ensure their pending salaries. In the meeting, the teaching faculty demanded of the university administration to pay their salaries at the earliest. They also demanded of the administration that it release their salaries before Eid in pursuance of a government directive.

A varsity spokesperson said that the IUB is facing a financial crisis because of the non-issuance of funds to the tune of Rs 800 million for the last two years by the Higher Education Commission (HEC).

Moreover, according to a press release, the IUB syndicate, at its 81st meeting, presided over by Vice Chancellor Athar Mehboob, on Wednesday approved the establishment of Cholistan and Seraikiarea study centre,a centre for excellence in corporate governance, a Chinese testing institute and business centre, a centre for performing arts and digital media production, the establishment of an institute of soil sciences and water resources, and a pilot project for an agro-economic zonein Cholistan.