27 Dow University Employees Dismissed Over Fake Degrees, Salary Recovery Ordered

KARACHI: Twenty-seven employees of Dow University of Health Sciences (DUHS) have been dismissed from service after their educational degrees were found to be fake, while authorities have ordered the recovery of all salaries paid to them.

The decision was taken during a meeting of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of the Sindh Assembly, chaired by Nisar Khuhro, which reviewed audit paragraphs relating to the university for the financial years 2024 and 2025.

The meeting was attended by committee members Qasim Soomro and Makhdoom Fakhr-uz-Zaman, Dow University Vice Chancellor Dr Nazli Hussain, and other relevant officials.

According to a statement issued by the PAC, Dow University has a total workforce of 5,350 employees. However, the educational credentials of only 1,945 employees have been verified so far, with the degrees of 27 employees found to be fake.

The meeting was further informed that the university administration had yet to obtain verification from the Higher Education Commission (HEC) for the degrees of approximately 3,400 employees.

The university’s Director of Finance told the committee that a contract worth Rs7.36 million had been awarded to HRSG for the verification of employees’ educational credentials. The process was outsourced to the company to facilitate the verification exercise.

Expressing concern over the findings, the PAC directed the authorities to recover all salaries paid to the 27 employees whose degrees were declared fake.

The committee also sought a report from all public-sector universities in Sindh regarding the verification of educational credentials of teaching staff and other employees.

The move aims to ensure transparency in recruitment and verify the academic qualifications of employees working in public-sector universities across the province.