PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa finance department on Wednesday released a fund of Rs5.22 billion for the University of Peshawar and other financially distressed universities.
According to a finance department notification, Rs1.59 billion has been issued as a grant for the first quarter of the fiscal year and Rs3.63 billion for clearing pending pension dues.
Senior officials from the KP Higher Education Department told HUM News English that the financial crisis at the University of Peshawar stemmed from weak financial planning and policies of former vice chancellors, including the diversion of pension funds towards construction projects.
They said that the provincial government has allocated Rs10 billion for public sector universities in the current budget.
Like several other universities in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the historic and 75-year-old University of Peshawar has been grappling with a financial crisis for several years.
However, the situation has worsened significantly in the current fiscal year 2025–26, leaving the administration struggling to pay salaries and pensions to university employees.
According to sources, the University of Peshawar currently requires Rs220 million to cover monthly salaries of its staff and an additional Rs140 million to disburse pensions to retired employees.
The Joint Action Committee (JAC), representing the university’s faculty, officers, and other staff, had presented several demands to the provincial government and university administration. These included full payment of July salaries and pensions, as well as the provision of a 10 per cent ad-hoc relief allowance.
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In support of their demands, university employees have launched a phased protest. In the first phase, from August 4 to August 6, all operations at the administration block were suspended, and a peaceful protest camp was set up outside the vice-chancellor’s office.
In the second phase, set from August 7, the entire university, including examination control offices, will be completely shut down.
Repeated attempts were made to contact the vice-chancellor of the University of Peshawar for comment, but he remained unreachable.
It is worth noting that the University of Peshawar was inaugurated on October 30, 1950, by Pakistan’s first Prime Minister Liaquat Ali Khan.
Over the past 75 years, hundreds of thousands of students have graduated from the institution, many of whom are now serving in key sectors across the country.
The university currently houses 40 departments and centres, and oversees four constituent colleges: the Law College, College of Home Economics, Quaid-e-Azam College of Commerce, and Jinnah College for Women.
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