KARACHI: The prolonged administrative and financial crises at the Federal Urdu University of Arts Science and Technology (Fuuast) were discussed at a special meeting of the Senate Standing Committee on Education at Sindh Governor House on Friday, where the incumbent vice chancellor faced criticism over his handling of the university’s affairs.

The meeting was chaired by the convener of the committee Senator Bushra Anjum Butt and attended by Senators Ashraf Ali Jatoi, Syed Masroor Ahsan, Syed Waqar Mehdi, Sarmad Ali, Higher Education Commission (HEC) Chairman Dr Niaz Ahmad Akhtar, Fuuast VC Prof Dr Zabta Khan Shinwari and others. Senator Dr Khalida Ateeb joined online.

Senator Bushra Butt said that the standing committee meeting was held in Karachi so that the affected teachers and employees of the varsity could also participate. She said that the revelations coming to light regarding the university are certainly disturbing for the committee.

She stated that before providing a special grant to the university, its internal system will have to be put in order. She criticised holding the syndicate meeting without a quorum and taking key decisions.

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“If the quorum of the syndicate is not complete, how can decisions of an extremely important nature be taken in its meeting,” she asked and directed that implementation of all decisions taken with the approval of the incomplete syndicate be stopped immediately and that VC Dr Shinwari complete the key forum.

Senator Ateeb said that the grant of Urdu University has been increased by 17 per cent and funds exceeding Rs500 million were also provided in the first grant; despite this, the vice chancellor is not paying the salaries of teachers and employees, house ceiling and pensions of retired employees.

Questioning the university’s declining enrolment, she said that student numbers had fallen from 17,058 in the academic year 2024-25 to 16,654 in 2025-26 and 16,259 in 2026-27. She asked whether the decline reflected deteriorating academic standards or shortcomings in the university’s administration.

VC Dr Shinwari attributed part of the decline to a broader fall in enrolment in basic science disciplines across Pakistan. He said admissions to subjects including Botany, Zoology, Geography and Environmental Sciences had declined nationally by about 12pc over the past two years.

He also said that the university’s funding had increased by about 10pc, while its salary expenditure had risen by around 20pc. He said the university’s grant had remained largely stagnant for about a decade even as salary costs had doubled.

He said the institution had inherited significant financial obligations when Federal Urdu College was granted university status in 2002. Funds intended for university operations were increasingly being consumed by salaries and pensions, including payments to employees associated with the college era, leaving limited resources for academic and administrative activities.

He said the university’s outstanding liabilities had reached about Rs2 billion two years ago. Although a bailout package was approved for three federal universities, Fuuast was not included, he further said. The committee sought an explanation from the education ministry for the university’s exclusion from the bailout.

An additional secretary of the Federal Ministry of Education said the university had claimed that some employees had been receiving salaries from the federal Fuuast was not included, he further said. The committee sought an explanation from the education ministry for the university’s exclusion from the bailout.

An additional secretary of the Federal Ministry of Education said the university had claimed that some employees had been receiving salaries from the federal government before the institution was granted university status in 2002. However, the university had failed to provide documentation substantiating the claim, making it ineligible for the funds.

Senator Sarmad Ali questioned the university’s growing salary bill, saying there was a substantial gap between its income and expenditure and that some employees had allegedly been recruited without proper regulations.

The VC acknowledged that some of the appointments were unnecessary and said a committee comprising representatives of the HEC and the education ministry had been constituted to examine the matter. He said the committee had yet to meet. He further said that about 500 non-teaching employees had been recruited without advertisements.

Senator Waqar Mehdi said the university’s financial problems had been discussed at a meeting in Islamabad in 2023, but little had changed since then. Employees who retired after 2017 had yet to receive their outstanding dues, while faculty promotions remained pending and the university’s senate and syndicate were described as dysfunctional.

He said the situation was particularly concerning because the university had substantial funds in its bank accounts while teachers and retired employees continued to face financial hardship.

Anjuman Taraqqi-i-Urdu President Wajid Jawad told the committee that the proceedings of the syndicate and senate meetings are not properly recorded. The vice chancellor also gets the proceedings prepared according to his own wishes.

He said that, as a member of the syndicate and senate, he had demanded several times that the proceedings be corrected, but the VC did not pay attention. According to him, the VC does not give adequate time to the Karachi campus and wants to run it through remote control.

Convener of the Committee of Retired Teachers at Fuuast Dr Tauseef Ahmad Khan and Prof Asghar Ali also participated in the meeting.

They informed the standing committee that, despite pension funds being available, pensions and arrears are not being paid to retired employees. More than 15 teachers and employees have passed away, including teachers and employees from the college and university periods.

Dr Syed Iqbal Hussain Naqvi, Dr Roshan Ali Soomro and Dr Irfan Aziz of the Nomination Committee of Fuuast, Prof Saadia Khaleeq, President of the Teachers’ Association, Gulshan-i-Iqbal Campus, and others were also present in the committee meeting.

The meeting decided to constitute a Senate sub-committee to review the administrative crisis of the varsity. Senator Ahsan will be the convener of the sub-committee, while Senator Mehdi, Senator Jatoi, Senator Ateeb and Senator Ali will be its members. Representation from the HEC will also be ensured in the sub-committee.

Published in Dawn, September 5th, 2026