The University of Karachi (KU) is facing a severe financial crisis while protests by teachers and a boycott of semester examinations continue despite efforts by Vice Chancellor Prof Dr Khalid Mahmood Iraqi to resolve the issue.
The Karachi University Teachers’ Society (Kuts) has refused to call off its protest, terming the ongoing negotiations and measures taken by the university administration to address the financial issues as inadequate. The continued protest has adversely affected academic and examination activities at the university.
Sources said the vice chancellor had written a detailed letter to the Sindh chief secretary, highlighting the university’s worsening financial condition and seeking immediate financial assistance and a bailout package. According to the letter, the issue of the house rent ceiling allowance has emerged as the central factor behind the current financial crisis and administrative unrest at the university.
The vice chancellor pointed out that the federal government had announced an 85 per cent increase in the house rent ceiling for federal employees with effect from Nov 1, 2025, but the Sindh government and the University of Karachi had yet to implement the increase.
The letter stated that implementation of the revised house rent rates would impose an additional annual financial burden of around Rs510 million on the university, which it could not bear under the prevailing financial circumstances.
The vice chancellor warned that the university was already facing acute financial difficulties and that failure to provide an immediate grant or special bailout package could further aggravate administrative and academic problems.
On the other hand, the teachers’ body maintains that delays in the payment of legitimate financial benefits and allowances to university employees are unacceptable, while the university administration argues that the demands cannot be fully met without additional funding from the provincial government.
