Governor Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Faisal Karim Kundi on Monday chaired the 18th Senate meeting of Gomal University Dera Ismail Khan here at Governor House and stressed the administration of the varsity to bring improvement in quality of education and in finance.
During the meeting, the annual budgets for the fiscal years 2023-24 and 2024-25 were conditionally approved, subject to a re-evaluation by the Senate’s standing committee.
Governor Faisal Karim Kundi on this occasion issued directives to all universities to conduct a third-party audit within six months.
He advised Gomal University to complete its third-party audit process within two months instead of one and to inform the Chancellor’s Office in writing.
The Governor also directed for details regarding the university’s solarization plan.
An allocation of 80 million rupees has been set aside for this purpose, with 40 million rupees provided by the Higher Education Commission (HEC) and the remaining amount to be covered by the university’s own resources, briefed the Governor.
“A total of 480 million rupees is required for the complete solarization of the university.”
The Governor emphasized the need to make every effort to secure the necessary funds and mentioned discussions with State Life Insurance to develop a scheme for universities.
He urged Gomal University administration to provide the required information promptly to facilitate the process and set an example for other institutions.
He said that technical issues were noted in the budget preparation, and the committee will review the transparency of the statistics.
Governor Faisal Kundi stressed that the university should contribute regularly to its pension fund, noting a current need of 1.7 billion rupees solely for pension payments. He expressed the desire for universities to become self-reliant and increase their resources.
The meeting also addressed that no new appointments have been made at the university, with a focus on promoting existing staff. It was noted that there are vacant senior faculty and administrative positions, and the university is working on increasing its faculty, students numbers, and resources.
Despite the federal and HEC grants being standardized, provincial grants remain irregular.
The university’s reform process was praised as superior compared to other provincial institutions.
A grant of 500 million rupees from the provincial government was mentioned, along with the hiring of 10 private buses for remote students without increasing transport fees.
Additionally, charges for 22 affiliated colleges, which previously were not levied, have now been included in the budget.
The meeting was attended by Vice Chancellor Dr. Shakib Ullah, Principal Secretary to the Governor Mazhar Irshad, representatives from the Higher Education Department, Finance Department, Higher Education Commission, and other Senate members.
