Sindh PAC orders degree verification of all public university staff after DUHS fraud

The Sindh Assembly’s Public Accounts Committee has ordered the verification of academic degrees of all employees of public-sector universities across the province by the Higher Education Commission within three months.

The directive was issued on Wednesday after it emerged that 10 employees at the Dow University of Health Sciences (DUHS) had been hired on the basis of fake academic credentials.

The PAC meeting, chaired by Nisar Ahmed Khuhro, examined audit paras of DUHS for the years 2022 to 2025. Audit officials informed the committee that the university spends Rs2.33 billion annually on employees’ salaries, yet its administration had hired staff over various periods without verifying their degrees.

Vice Chancellor Dr Nazli Hussain told the PAC that DUHS has 3,500 employees, of whom 2