islamabad - Federal Urdu University of Arts, Science and Technology failed in constructing its own building despite having 80 kanals of land for the purpose for the last 10 years, said a source on Thursday.

The university presently holds its classes in a rented building in G-7 sector of the federal capital.

The building is owned by the Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA), which has sent a ‘final’ notice to the university to vacate the building. “The administration has offered to increase rent of the building but the other party has not consented yet,” the source revealed.

Future of nearly 5,000 students of the university is hanging in balance due to mismanagement of the administration and rivalry between different groups backed by previous vice chancellors, the source said.

The university administration purchased land for its own building at Kuri Road in 2009 but till now, not a single stone has been laid there due to heavy financial embezzlements by the varsity officials, the source said.

In addition, the source said, Pakistan Engineering Council has refused accreditation of the electrical engineering department of the university due to non-availability of labs required for the programme.

Current rooms and laboratories do not fulfil criteria required for registration with the PEC and it has conditioned the affiliation with shifting of the department and the labs in a proper building, said the source.

The source added that the PEC had also asked the university administration to hire senior faculty for the engineering programme. “However, there is no early chance of shifting such a huge set up elsewhere as the university in severe administrative and financial crises,” said the source.

The source further said that above Rs50 million had been paid in 2010 against the land purchased for the university on which the Auditor General of Pakistan in its report had raised serious objections.

“Construction of the building could not start as the Higher Education Commission (HEC) after noting serious malpractices refused to release the funds,” said the official.

The document with The Nation said that the HEC had approved a project for establishment of main campus building of the university with an estimated cost of Rs800 million. An amount of Rs80 million had been released for the Karachi main campus but later the funds were withheld.

“The musical chair between previous VCs, Dr Zafar Iqbal and Salman D Muhammad, has caused the university a serious administrative damage,” said the source.

The Salman had been removed from the position after his degree was declared fake by the HEC. Dr Zafar Iqbal had been arrested by National Accountability Bureau (NAB) for alleged serious financial embezzlements.

Currently, Dr Altaf Hussain has been given the acting charge of the university to run the affairs.

The AGP document available with The Nation declared purchase of the land as unjustified, indicating irregularities in the deal. The document said that the university entered into agreement on October 20, 2009 for purchase of 80 kanals of agriculture land in Moza Mohrian at the rate of Rs650,000 per kanal. The total price of the land was Rs52 million.

According to the agreement, the university would use the link road which would be built within 3 to 6 months and ten per cent of the total amount shall be retained by the university in anticipation of satisfaction of having the possession of the 80 kanals of compact piece of land.

The audit observed that the land had been purchased without having the contract vetted by the law and finance divisions. The piece of land for access road leading up to the site was not yet acquired by the university because of which the site was not accessible, it observed.

The university management had also not approached the Capital Development Authority (CDA) for procurement of the land, the audit noted.

The audit also observed that purchase of the land and hiring of the firm indicated favouritism and the expenditure incurred was unjustified and irregular.

The university administration in its reply to the audit stated that the piece of land for access of road leading up to the site had been acquired but the link road had been damaged due to the rains.

The university registrar Asif Ali Afandi while talking to The Nation said that all issues of the university had been resolved. Reluctant to share a timeline for constructing the own building and shifting the campus, the registrar only said, “Tenders have been issued and all matters have been resolved”.

Chairman HEC Dr Mukhtar Ahmed while raising concerns regarding the administrative and financial misappropriations at the university had earlier said that the current situation of the university could lead towards its closure.