FUUAST staff at odds as relocation plan fuels crisis

KARACHI: The Federal Urdu University of Arts, Science and Technology is facing a widening internal dispute as teaching and non-teaching staff take opposing positions amid a prolonged financial crisis, an examination boycott and a proposal to move the university’s central secretariat to Islamabad.

Faculty members continued their protest over unpaid dues and boycotted examinations in around 34 of the university’s 38 departments. The teachers say repeated talks with the administration have not produced a solution to their demands, which include payment of house allowance pending for 20 months, restoration of medical facilities and pension payments for retired employees.

At the same time, non-teaching employees organised a Day of Stability rally at the Gulshan-e-Iqbal campus in support of Vice Chancellor Prof Dr Zabta Khan Shinwari. The march, led by Employees’ Union President Adnan Akhtar, began at the Abdul Qadir Auditorium and ended at the New Academic Block, where participants chanted slogans in favour of the institution’s stability and autonomy.

Speaking to The Express Tribune, Akhtar said the recent unrest had hurt the university’s standing and said discussions between the faculty and administration had been under way before some developments increased tensions.

He said the proposed transfer of the central secretariat to Islamabad would have serious implications for the university’s two Karachi campuses, where most of its students and employees are based.

Akhtar also said university employees had not received salaries for the past two months, while house allowance had remained unpaid for nearly 20 months. He said medical facilities were still unavailable and that the university was also dealing with multiple infrastructure problems, including deteriorating buildings, unusable washrooms, the absence of clean drinking water and a lack of transport for students.

He urged the federal education ministry, the Higher Education Commission and other relevant institutions to extend immediate financial assistance, saying the university’s deficit had been increasing for years.

"Negotiations were ongoing between faculty and administration, but certain incidents created tension," Akhtar said in his remarks to the newspaper.

The standoff has left the university caught between competing staff positions, with one side maintaining pressure through protest and boycott and the other backing the vice chancellor while also calling for urgent financial support and opposing the proposed relocation plan.