PESHAWAR: The Peshawar University Teachers’ Association (Puta) on Saturday demanded of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government to allocate “at least” Rs50 billion in the next fiscal budget for public sector universities in the province to enable them to overcome their financial crisis.

In a joint statement, Puta president Dr Mohammad Uzair and general secretary Dr Zakirullah Jan said that the provincial government should not neglect public sector universities in the budget for the finance year 2024–25 and should fulfil its responsibility of allocating necessary funds for them, besides establishing the Provincial Higher Education Commission to oversee their affairs.

They pointed out that after the 18th Amendment to the Constitution, the governments of Sindh and Punjab established their own higher education commissions and continuously gave away funds to their universities for their development.

The Puta leaders, however, complained that even 12 years after the passage of that constitutional amendment, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa hadn’t set up its HEC as the regulator for its government universities.

Puta leaders also ask govt to set up provincial HEC

They expressed concern about the “minimal” increase in the salaries and pensions of university employees in the province and complained that the government had significantly increased the perks and privileges for a “special group of individuals.”

The Puta leaders warned that if university employees were deprived of their constitutional rights, they would be left with no option but to protest.

They said that on one hand, the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf-led government claimed to represent youths, who had always voted for the party, but on the other, it was restricting their access to higher education by not giving sufficient budgetary allocations to the public sector universities in the province.

The Puta leader said that a lack of funds threatened the closure of those seats of higher education, jeopardising the future of youths in the province.

They said that without adequate funding, the youth won’t be able to compete within the country and abroad.

The Puta leaders said that if youth were ignored or deprived of higher education, then they wouldn’t be able to serve the country effectively.

They requested the chief minister and finance and higher education ministers to intervene for the approval of “at least” Rs50 billion for the province’s public sector universities in the 2024–25 budget to “protect the future of the province’s youth.

The Puta leaders said that the province faced many challenges, and the development of the higher education sector was imperative for their effective resolution.

They said that if their demands weren’t met by authorities without delay, then the association would soon call a meeting to discuss the future course of action.

Published in Dawn, May 26th, 2024