In a major policy shake-up, the Public Accounts Committee has directed the University of Karachi (UoK) to abolish its decades-old Karachi-Sindh-Pakistan admission quota and adopt a uniform open-merit system for all students holding a Sindh domicile. The decision came during a committee meeting chaired by Nisar Ahmed Khuhro, which reviewed the university’s audit reports for 2021 to 2023. Sindh Higher Education Secretary Moeen Siddiqui and KU’s acting Vice Chancellor Prof Dr Haris Shoaib were also present.
The committee deemed the KSP quota, introduced in 1990 and still effective in almost all faculties, to be discriminatory. Khuhro stressed that separating Karachi from the rest of Sindh for admissions was unjustified and urged UoK to follow NED University’s model of test-based merit. He asserted that students with a Sindh domicile should receive admission solely on merit and instructed the university to revisit the policy and present a progress report at the next meeting.
The PAC also raised concerns about KU’s failure to operationalize the Shaheed Benazir Bhutto Chair despite spending Rs. 422 million. University representatives said more funds were needed and that a PC-I had been submitted, but the committee ordered the chair to be made functional without further delay.
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Financial mismanagement at Sindh Government Printing Presses also came under scrutiny. The Governor’s House printing press incurred a loss of Rs 281 million in 2022–23 due to departments outsourcing their printing work. Khuhro directed the Chief Secretary to ensure that all government printing be handled internally to prevent further losses. The Khairpur press also reported a Rs 40 million deficit, prompting the committee to call for immediate corrective measures.