PAC Orders Recovery of Salaries from 27 Dow University Employees Over Fake Degrees
By Qurban Ali Khushik
KARACHI: The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of Sindh has ordered the recovery of all salaries paid to 27 employees of Dow University of Health Sciences (DUHS) whose academic degrees were found to be fake during verification by the Higher Education Commission (HEC).
The committee also directed the university administration to recover the salaries from the employees concerned, who have already been dismissed from service, and sought reports from all public universities in Sindh regarding the verification of degrees held by their academic staff and other employees.
The PAC meeting, chaired by Nisar Khuhro, was held at the committee room to review the audit paras of Dow University for the years 2024 and 2025. Committee members Qasim Soomro and Makhdoom Fakhr-uz-Zaman, Dow University Vice Chancellor Dr Nazli Hussain, and other relevant officials attended the meeting.
During the proceedings, the audit raised objections that the university administration had failed to ensure the verification of employees’ academic credentials, despite repeated queries.
Chairman Nisar Khuhro questioned the administration about the university’s total workforce and the reasons for the delay in verifying employees’ degrees.
The Director Finance informed the committee that the university had outsourced the verification process to HRSG under an agreement worth Rs7.36 million.
According to the official, Dow University has a total of 5,350 employees, of whom the degrees of 1,945 had been verified. The verification process revealed that 27 employees possessed fake academic credentials, while the degrees of approximately 3,400 employees remained unverified and were still under scrutiny.
The officials informed the committee that all 27 employees whose degrees were found to be fake had been dismissed. The disputed credentials included B.Com, B.A., M.Com, B.Sc., matriculation certificates, nursing diplomas, computer science qualifications, and other academic documents.
The Vice Chancellor told the committee that more than 70 per cent of the academic doctors’ degrees had been verified, while the remaining cases were undergoing verification.
Khuhro directed the university to recover the full amount of salaries paid to the employees found to have secured employment on the basis of fake degrees. He also instructed the authorities to obtain reports from all public universities regarding the verification of degrees held by their academic staff and employees.
University Budget and Revenue
During the meeting, the PAC chairman also questioned the university administration about its annual budget and revenue generation.
The Director Finance informed the committee that Dow University had an annual budget of approximately Rs26 billion and generated around Rs25 billion annually through academic services, radiology, laboratory services, and other sources.
The university reportedly generated Rs4.5 billion annually through student fees.
The Vice Chancellor informed the committee that the university offered more than 300 open-merit seats. Students admitted on a self-finance basis paid an annual fee of Rs500,000, while open-merit students paid Rs60,000 annually. International students were charged between $10,000 and $18,000 per year, in accordance with the fee structure prescribed by the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC), she said.
Audit of Civil Hospitals
The PAC chairman also questioned why the condition of civil hospitals remained poor despite the Sindh government allocating billions of rupees annually for free medical treatment.
The Dow University administration responded that civil hospitals fell under the administrative control of the provincial Health Department.
Khuhro directed that separate audit days be scheduled for all civil hospitals across Sindh, independently of the medical universities, to ensure a focused review of their financial affairs and performance.
