Karachi:February 02:The Dow University of Health Sciences (DUHS) has decided to a acquire loan from a local bank to pay the 15 percent raise in staff salaries that were increased through a notification by the government. The University has no other alternative, especially since the funds required for the increased salaries were never given by the authorities concerned.

“The university syndicate has decided to take a loan to pay the increase in salaries to avoid protests by the staff and to retain qualified and experienced faculty members,” Vice Vhancellor DUHS Dr. Masood Hameed Khan said at a press briefing on Wednesday.

The university administration also has decided to slow down a few university projects in view of the short flow of funds from the Sindh Government and HEC and increase its recurring expenditures, he added.

He said that faculty members and staff of the university are still awaiting a 15 percent increase in their salaries even six months after it was announced by the government. Currently, the university is managing 65-70 percent of its expenses from revenue generated by its own resources. It is paying increased salaries to lower staff by minimizing our expenses, but can only practise austerity to a certain limit, Dr. Hameed Khan observed.

He further stated that the University is pressing the provincial government to increase the grant so that it could pay increased salaries to the faculty. The Government of Sindh and the Higher Education Commission has given no response to various correspondences regarding issuance of funds, he claimed, adding that DUHS administration is continuously discussing the matter with the authorities concerned.

In this situation, DUHS was compelled to either utilise its own resources or divert funds from development projects, for the time being, to at least meet the salary and allowance components of its budget.The news.