KARACHI: The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of the Sindh Assembly on Wednesday directed all public universities in the province to verify the educational degrees of their employees and officials through the Higher Education Commission (HEC) within three months. The decision came after PAC discovered that 10 employees of the Dow University of Health Sciences (DUHS) had been hired using fake degrees.
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While examining DUHS audit reports from 2021 to 2023, the PAC learned that only 450 out of 3,500 employees had their certificates verified by the HEC. The audit highlighted that personal files of contractual employees lacked verification of educational qualifications and other antecedents at the time of appointment.
The audit department warned that the absence of degree verification made appointments irregular and increased the risk of bogus certificates. The committee noted that the university spends Rs2.33 billion annually on employees’ salaries. The matter had been reported to DUHS in June last year, but no response had been received until now.
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DUHS management told the PAC that tenders for degree verification had been invited three times in the past, but no bidders participated. As a result, the university engaged HRSG Outsourcing Company directly, which has begun verifying degrees, with some already completed.
DUHS Vice Chancellor Dr Nazli Hussain informed the PAC that eight of the 10 employees with fake degrees had been removed, while the remaining two had received show-cause notices and were expected to be terminated soon. She added that from July 2021 to June 2025, 3,023 employees were appointed on a contract basis, of whom 54 had their services regularised.
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The PAC directed all public universities to ensure verification of all employees’ degrees within the next three months, emphasising strict adherence to HEC standards to prevent irregular appointments in the future.