04/09/2026
A Senate committee has ordered a review of the administrative affairs of the Federal Urdu University of Arts, Science and Technology, amid a worsening salary and pension crisis, allegations of irregular recruitment and prolonged dysfunction in the university’s governing bodies.
The Senate Standing Committee on Education, chaired by Senator Bushra Anjum Butt, on Friday directed the formation of a sub-committee to examine the university’s financial and administrative problems. The sub-committee will include a representative of the Higher Education Commission (HEC), while the release of further funds will be linked to the correction of administrative irregularities.
The committee also ruled that decisions taken at the university’s previous Syndicate meeting had no legal validity.
The meeting at Governor House in Karachi examined the university’s unpaid salaries and pensions, staffing levels, recruitment practices, funding, outstanding liabilities and the functioning of its Senate and Syndicate.
Questioning the university’s declining enrolment, Senator Khalida Ateeb noted that student numbers had fallen from 17,058 in the 2024-25 academic year 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.
Vice-Chancellor Zabta 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 12% over the past two years.
Senator Khalida Ateeb also questioned why the university continued to face financial difficulties despite an increase in its government grant.
VC Shinwari said the university’s funding had increased by about 10%, while its salary expenditure had risen by around 20%. 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 Rs2bn two years ago. Although a bailout package was approved for three federal universities, Federal Urdu University was not included.
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.
VC Zabta Shinwari 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 about 500 non-teaching employees had been recruited without advertisements.
Senator Bushra Anjum Butt directed the vice-chancellor to submit complete details of recruitment at the university at the next committee meeting, including lists of appointees, advertisements and other relevant documentation. She said continued reliance on government subsidies and bailout packages would not resolve the university’s underlying problems.
Senator Khalida Ateeb said politically motivated appointments and repeated changes in administration had contributed to the university’s difficulties, while recruitment had continued without addressing its fundamental problems.
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. He called for a sub-committee to monitor the university’s affairs and ensure implementation of directives issued by the Senate committee.
The functioning of the university’s governing bodies also came under scrutiny. Senator Masroor Ahsan asked the vice-chancellor about the composition and functioning of the university Senate, including its quorum and frequency of meetings.
VC Shinwari said major decisions were taken through the Senate, which consists of 17 members and requires at least nine members for a quorum. The Senate is required to meet twice a year, but its last meeting was held about a year ago – the first meeting in nearly a decade, according to the vice-chancellor.
An official from the Anjuman-e-Taraqqi-e-Urdu alleged that decisions were inaccurately recorded in the Senate minutes and that written objections submitted by members had not been incorporated or corrected.
Senator Waqar Mehdi directed the vice-chancellor to provide the committee with the names and details of members of both the Senate and Syndicate, together with the minutes of all meetings held by the two bodies.
Chairperson Standing Commitee Bushra Anjum said the university’s governing forums existed precisely to provide oversight and resolve institutional problems. She called for quarterly meetings, saying not all of the university’s difficulties could be attributed to a lack of funds.
Questions were also raised about the university’s teaching staff and Selection Board. Dr Irfan Aziz, a university faculty member, told the committee that the institution had 631 sanctioned teaching posts but employed only slightly more than 200 teachers. He questioned why proceedings and documentation relating to Selection Board meetings had not been submitted to the HEC or the education ministry.
An Anjuman-e-Taraqqi-e-Urdu representative alleged that the vice-chancellor, who is based in Peshawar, never stays in Karachi and was running the university remotely. The representative also alleged that non-members had been included in Syndicate meetings when the number of eligible members was insufficient to meet the quorum.
The representative further alleged that a Selection Board meeting held after several years, during the tenure of former president Arif Alvi, had been challenged in writing by nine members over inaccuracies in its minutes. The objections, he said, had still not been addressed.
A university teacher told the committee that a Syndicate meeting held on 8 April 2026 consisted of eight permanent members, with one position vacant. The teacher alleged that an assistant professor appointed on a temporary basis had been made dean of law and was being counted towards the quorum.
The committee also heard complaints over unpaid pensions and retirement benefits.
Dr Tauseef Ahmed said employees and faculty members who had retired since 2017 had not received their outstanding dues. He said information obtained through the Information Commission showed that the university had about Rs660m in funds.
According to Ahmed, the Federal Ombudsman had ruled in favour of the retired employees and directed that pensions be paid from those funds. The university’s Syndicate, however, rejected the decision on the grounds that the money belonged to its Islamabad campus.
Senator Bushra Anjum said the university could not hold the federal government responsible for every problem when the university’s own oversight mechanisms were not functioning. “The Senate and Syndicate were established to ensure checks and balances,” she said, stressing that restoring the functioning of these bodies could resolve many of the university’s problems.
The committee’s sub-committee will now examine the university’s recruitment, governance, financial management and outstanding salary and pension liabilities, with the HEC expected to participate in the process.
The meeting was attended by Senators Masroor Ahsan, Waqar Mehdi, Ashraf Ali Jatoi and Sarmad Ali, while Khalida Ateeb participated online. HEC chairman Dr Niaz Ahmed, Federal Urdu University vice-chancellor Zabta Shinwari and the additional secretary of the Federal Ministry of Education also attended.
