Iftikhar Hussain Khan, Treasurer University of Peshawar said that the university had to deal with financial burden once more universities were made from the mother institution of UoP. Talking to The Frontier Post Iftikhar Hussain said that there was a time when degree in engineering, medical and agriculture disciplines were given by the University of Peshawar, however, he added three new universities were made for these disciplines and this causing a financial dent to the Peshawar University.
UoP budget was cut down and funds were also given to other universities within the campus of University of Peshawar,” Iftikhar added. He said the decision to make these separate universities was not a healthy decision and it put more financial burden on UoP.
Iftikhar Hussain Khan after doing his MBA from Gomal University in 1976-77 joined University of Peshawar in 1981 as Deputy Treasurer. Iftikhar Hussain has worked on different positions in the varsity administration including Registrar, Director Bureau of Statistics and Information, Director of Physical Planning, Implementation and Maintenance, Controller of Examination and Director of Planning and Development of University of Peshawar. While talking on the financial position of the varsity Iftikhar Hussain expressed his grief over attitude of Federal Government toward higher education’s institutions in the country. He criticized government for establishing new varsities in the province but ignoring the legitimate demands of well-established universities in the province.
He said that committed grant for year 2011-12 of UoP was 837.762 millions rupees but only 799.839 millions rupees were received from the federal government.
Treasurer added that they were not able to balance the deficit of 37.923 millions rupees, and due to this deficit the university was facing severe financial crunch. He went further to assert that increase in the salaries, pensions, and medical and adhoc relieve to government employees in fiscal budget 2011-12 had increased the ratio of deficit from 37.923 to 545.195 millions rupees.
Government announced twenty percent increase in salaries, pensions and conveyance allowances of government employees in recent budget of fiscal year 2012-13. Iftikhar Hussain informed that current increase in fiscal year is summed 210.793 millions rupees in University of Peshawar that increased the deficit into 784.911 millions rupees.
Iftikhar Hussain said that it has become very difficult for UoP to generate its own income as told by federal government. He added that examination fees from the private students of the province was the main source of income for university of Peshawar but with the establishment of new universities in the province the said source of income was also divided among more than eighteen varsities that affect University of Peshawar.
Treasurer informed that only 40 percent of estimated budget was given to University of Peshawar by federal government with the directives to generate 60 percent of the budget on its own.
Generating such a huge amount of income on its own resources is not feasible for University of Peshawar, Iftikhar added.
Iftikhar Hussain lamented that developmental work in the varsity was stopped and students sent abroad on the scholarships might left their studies incomplete due to shortage of funds with the UoP.
Iftikhar Hussain has also written several books including Academic Scenario, Taleemi Pasmanzar and Sarguzasht Apni said while commenting on quarry about digging out solution to the financial crisis of the varsities that they were required to admit the fact that they were citizen of a poor state which have scare and limited resources.
“We should not demand and standards which developed countries possess, we can’t compete them with such resources therefore we should also not allocate own objectives and goals like them”, Iftikhar Hussain added.
He further said that sense of self responsibility was required to utilize scarce resources to obtain best possible goals.
