Sindh Agriculture University Seeks Budget for Umerkot Campus After HEC Funding Halt

What Happened

Sindh Agriculture University (SAU), Tandojam, is trying to secure permanent budget allocations for its Umerkot campus, according to The Express Tribune [1]. The campus is facing financial strain, and employees are waiting for their salaries [1].

The university is also trying to arrange a temporary building to hold the winter session exams, which are approaching [1].

Key background from the report:

• The campus was set up in 2017 as a project of the Higher Education Commission (HEC), Islamabad [1].
• The provincial government gave an abandoned public school built in the early 1990s, spread across 54 acres, for the campus [1].
• Classes began after repairs to the buildings, but the repairs did not last, and the ceiling plasters began to fall again, exposing students and staff to safety hazards [1].
• In 2024, HEC stopped releasing funds for the campus. HEC said the campus could not arrange a larger piece of land for agricultural research, which was part of the Memorandum of Understanding between HEC and SAU [1].
• The withdrawal made it difficult for SAU to pay for the campus operations and building repairs [1].
• According to the spokesman, SAU has since been using main campus funds to pay for Umerkot [1].
• SAU has approached the Sindh government for a bailout of Rs200 million during the ongoing fiscal 2026-2027 to help pay campus expenses [1].

The spokesman said the land objection raised by HEC has been resolved, as the district administration provided the required land some months ago. He said HEC funding has still not resumed [1].

The SAU spokesman denied any plans to close the campus permanently. He rejected reports in parts of the print and social media that said the university administration or its vice chancellor intended to shut the Umerkot campus [1]. The Nation also reported that SAU, Tandojam, had categorically rejected such reports [2].

The spokesman quoted Vice Chancellor Prof Dr Alta Ali Siyal, saying the campus remains an integral part of the institution and that efforts are being made to sustain its academic and administrative operations [1].

Who Is Affected

• Students: The Umerkot campus has 1,229 students, who have continued their higher education online for at least six months since the ceiling plasters of the campus buildings began to fall [1].
• Staff: As many as 30 teaching faculty, mostly regular employees, and more than 70 administrative staff work at the campus. They are currently paid only basic salary, without allowances such as housing and conveyance. This amounts to deductions of between 30% and 35% from monthly salaries [1].