ISLAMABAD: The Auditor General’s office on Wednesday raised alarm over the Higher Education Commission’s failure to recover more than Rs1.5 billion from scholarship defaulters.

Calling it a critical matter, the issue was raised after audit officials reported that 5,321 students had received foreign scholarships under nine different projects.

While 96 individuals had defaulted, approximately Rs0.8 billion had already been recovered. The principal accounting officer of the Higher Education Commission (HEC), Ziaul Qayym, informed the committee that 36 cases were currently under trial.

This observation was made when the PAC convened under the chairmanship of MNA Junaid Akbar Khan to review audit objections concerning the Higher Education Commission (HEC). The members expressed concerns over scholars who had failed to return to Pakistan after completing their studies.

QAU VC tells apex committee demarcation issue with CDA remains unresolved

Junaid Akbar Khan urged authorities to file FIRs against them, while Senator Afnanullah Khan called the situation “shameful.” Shahida Akhtar Ali questioned whether their passports could be revoked. In response, the committee chairman directed NADRA to cancel the passports and national identity cards of defaulters.

“This is a grave issue,” remarked Shazia Marri, emphasising the need for stricter measures. Senator Khan suggested publicly naming and shaming the defaulters in newspapers. The committee directed the HEC to submit a comprehensive report on the matter.

The audit was of the view that non-recovery from defaulted scholars indicated the wasteful and unstructured spending of taxpayers’ money. The meeting was informed that the management of the Higher Education Commission awarded 1,876 applicants Overseas Scholarship Phase II, of which 341 were cancelled and 70 students had absconded.

Similarly, not a single applicant completed the Fulbright Scholarship Phase III - out of 92 scholarships awarded, 89 were cancelled and three absconded. In the HRDIUESTP Phase I, 1,245 students were awarded the opportunity to study abroad, out of which 45 scholarships were cancelled and 19 absconded.

Some 409 applicants received the PhD scholarship programme under the Pak-US Knowledge Corridor; the scholarship of one student was cancelled while four absconded.

Under the conditions of the National Scholarship Management Committee (NSMC), in case of a breach of the agreement, the scholars shall be bound to pay the HEC a penalty at the rate of 25 percent besides compensating the commission by making a refund of the total expenditure.

The PAC chairman also made a startling revelation, claiming that students were being blackmailed for grades. “After yesterday’s meeting, I was shown a professor’s chat that exposed this unethical practice,” Junaid Akbar Khan disclosed. He expressed deep concern over recurring complaints from universities and suggested that independent bodies should handle grades to prevent such incidents.

Quaid-e-Azam University dispute

The committee also examined an audit objection related to the unauthorised construction of a building at Quaid-e-Azam University without prior approval from the Capital Development Authority (CDA). Senator Shibli Faraz inquired whether the land dispute between the university and the CDA had been resolved.

In response, the university’s vice chancellor stated that the demarcation issue remained unresolved. Expressing frustration over the ongoing tiff, PTI’s Omar Ayub Khan remarked that Quaid-e-Azam University had become a persistent challenge for the CDA. The committee decided to formally engage the CDA to resolve the matter.

Meanwhile, committee member Naveed Qamar described the irregular award of work to fewer pre-qualified contractors by the management of Air University, E-9, Islamabad, resulting in loss of Rs551.3 million and “irregularity of the highest order”.

Committee members and Naveed Qamar made this observation after the audit observed that Air University Director P&D did not adopt open procurement procedure in the case of financial bidding from the pre-qualified contractors, which was a clear violation of quoted rules.

Published in Dawn, March 27th, 2025