University of Chitral faculty on strike against ‘irregularities’
CHITRAL: The faculty and other staff of the University of Chitral (UoC) are on strike since April 15 against alleged irregularities in the nascent institution of higher learning in Chitral.
The row between Prof Badshah Munir Bukhari, the project director (PD), and the employees of UoC coupled with a financial crisis has put the future of students at stake.
The faculty members and other staff have started the protest after their repeated demands remained unresolved.
They demand a service structure and an end to alleged irregularities in the university.
The staff members say they are even not being given pay slips and when demand their rights the university admin issues them show-cause notice and threatens them of terminating their contracts.
In a statement, PML-N district information secretary Niaz A. Niazi Advocate said the internal dispute coupled with the financial crisis at the nascent university had jeopardized the future of the students.
He said former chief minister KP and PTI chairman Imran Khan had inaugurated the university while installing a plaque on the old campus of Abdul Wali Khan University in Chitral in July 2017 even though funds amounting to Rs3 billion were allocated by the then PML-N federal government. But afterward, he said, the PTI did not give any attention to the university.
He said the previous PML-N government had allocated the Rs3 billion in the national budget for the university but there was no trace of that amount.
He said due to lack of basic facilities the students of the university were suffering a lot. There are no hostels and as a result students, especially females belonging to far-off areas, are compelled to hire private houses near the university at exorbitant rents. The students are also being kept deprived of the fee waiver and the prime minister’s laptop schemes, he added.
The PML-N local leader said three years after the inauguration of the makeshift university, the government has also failed to acquire land for the constriction of a permanent building for the institution. Even the road from the town to the university is in a dilapidated condition for long and there is no plan to rebuild it.
Mr Niazi said the government should take immediate steps to resolve the financial and administrative crises at the university in order to ensure uninterrupted academic activities for securing the future of the youth of Chitral.
It is said that the University administration is strict in disciplinary measures keeping a watch on punctuality and attendance of staff. Obviously, there be some financial problems in a new setup that cannot be solved overnight. There can be a forum to solve an issue. This is not a political resistance to erect, as the outcome is lapse in education process of the students.