Government Release Rs1.1 billion for HSC

Source: The News

Date: October 05, 2010

ISLAMABAD: Making an attempt to cool down the employees of public sector universities who are all set to observe “World Teachers Day” as black day the government finally released an amount of Rs1.1 billion to the Higher Education Commission (HEC) on Monday.

According to the reliable sources, the HEC had demanded Rs5.8 billion additional recurring grants from the government in order to pay 50 percent increase in the salaries to their employees besides 15 percent increase in pension and medical allowance however only Rs1.1 billion has been released.
Talking to The News, HEC Chairman Javed Laghari confirmed that the government has released the amount of Rs1.1 billion. “We are very pleased and hope that we together with universities would be able to work for the betterment of education sector besides promoting research culture in the country,” he said.

He expressed hope that the Federation of All Pakistan University Academic Staff Association (FAPUASA) would call off the strike to be held on today (Tuesday). However FAPUASA President Kaleemullah rejected any possibility of calling off the strike and said that they would continue their struggle until the pledged amount was not released at once. “This is not the way of releasing money. Whenever we mount some pressure, government makes some announcement,” he said.

He said that the government was making fun of higher education sector by playing such tactics. “There are 72 public sector universities functioning right now. How the demand of universities could be met with only Rs1.1 billion when we are not really sure as to when the other release would be made,” he said.

For details view the link: http://thenews.com.pk/05-10-2010/ethenews/e-8369.htm