NIHCR staff not paid salary for September 2022 yet!

ISLAMABAD: The National Institute of Historical and Cultural Research has been deplorably facing financial crunch created by the Higher Education Commission for the last over five years at the one pretext or the other.
The NIHCR authorities have repeatedly been bringing the matter of financial constraints in the knowledge of the HEC high-ups and the Ministry of Education and Professional Training to help out NIHCR financially but to no avail. Ironically, due to apathy of all these stakeholders, salary as well as pensionary benefits of the NIHCR staff are accumulating for the last five years.
Due to indifference of the HEC authorities, NIHCR staff was paid for the month of July 2022 on August 22, 2022; for the month of August on 13 September 2022 and God knows when the salary for the month of September would be paid.
Presently, the NIHCR has to clear House Rent for the last over two years; medical reimbursement arrears for the last over three years to its serving staff; implement revised pay scales 2022-23 and to pay 15 percent adhoc relief granted in the budget 2022-23 besides paying arrears of pensionary benefits for three years to at least five retired employees.Thus, the staff is forced to borrow money from relatives; take their daily needs goods on credit and even arrange money for those among them who are more desperate, to make both ends meet.
The financial burden would continue to increase if required funds are not provided in time. There is dire need to improve the financial health of the NIHCR.Furthermore, those retiring from service, too, are not getting their retirement benefits. The NIHCR has yet to pay pension and gratuity to its at least four retired staffers whereas five employees are going to retire in 2022-24, who are becoming psycho by every passing day owing to the prevailing financial situation.
The NIHCR faculty and the staff had pinned hopes on the Ministry of Education in general and the Higher Education Commission in particular for a bailout package to clear the backlog and higher budget allocations for the year 2022-23 2023-24 to tide over the situation following huge increase in deficit. It is feared that the coming months could be even worse if immediate steps were not taken to improve the funds flow to the NIHCR.
It is shameful that academic research institutions are not being provided sufficient funds to cope with the routine financial matters. The NIHCR should be provided the desired funds by the HEC without any delay so that it could regain its financial stability. The HEC authorities should sit and chalk out a plan of payment to reinvigorate NIHCR’s financial health by releasing liberal grants. Hope the concerned authorities would take cognizance of the prevailing financial situation in the NIHCR.You are requested to please raise your voice in support of the NIHCR staff in the Senate of Pakistan which would surely help in releasing the required funds by the HEC to clear the backlog. -NNI