Hundreds of University of Peshawar employees gathered outside the administration block Monday, halting academic activities to protest months of unpaid salaries and stalled pension payments.
The sit-in, organized by the university’s employees’ association, has effectively shut down key departments. Faculty members, support staff, and retirees are demanding an immediate release of funds, citing an inability to meet basic household expenses amid soaring inflation.
“We’ve been working on hope and empty promises for three months,” said a senior professor who joined the protest. “My children’s school fees are unpaid, and the administration tells us the coffers are dry. It’s humiliating.
” The university’s financial distress stems from a widening deficit between operational costs and government grants. While the provincial government has previously stepped in with bailouts, the cycle of debt has left the institution—once the premier seat of learning in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa—on the brink of a total shutdown.
Higher Education Department officials have remained largely silent on the specific timeline for a fresh release of funds. University management, meanwhile, blames the crisis on a combination of declining student enrollment and a lack of consistent provincial support.
The protest isn’t just about delayed paychecks; it’s a breaking point for the institution’s morale. Research projects have stalled, and students preparing for upcoming examinations face mounting uncertainty as their professors remain on the picket line.
“We aren’t asking for bonuses or luxury,” said a retired staff member relying on his pension for life-saving medication. “We are asking for the money we earned over thirty years of service.” As of Monday evening, the administration had yet to offer a formal payment schedule. Unless the provincial government intervenes with an emergency grant, the university’s doors are likely to stay locked through the week.
