ISLAMABAD: The Accountant General of Pakistan Revenue (AGPR) has banned the purchase of several newspapers for college libraries, a move which would deprive students of political awareness and discourage research work.
Previously, college libraries used to purchase several copies of prominent Urdu and English newspapers, but the AGPR, which pays for the newspaper bills, recently restricted the libraries to purchasing one newspaper only.
An officer of the Federal Directorate of Education (FDE), requesting not to be identified, said there were 30 model and federal government colleges in the city which offered graduation and post-graduation courses, and 43 colleges which offered courses till intermediate. “AGPR has started rejecting the newspaper bills for colleges stating that because of the financial crunch, the ministry of finance had banned the purchase of several newspapers. In the future, only one newspaper will be purchased for each college,” he said.
A faculty member of the federal government college, requesting anonymity, said there were over 2,000 students in each college and for decades, the colleges had been purchasing at least one copy of all prominent English and Urdu newspapers which were displayed in the library.
“Students can visit the library and get a copy of the newspaper, and in the evening, librarians file the newspapers in a record which is later used as reference,” he said.
A librarian of a college said the recent newspaper bills were sent to the AGPR but were rejected. “I have been informed by the AGPR that the finance division has banned purchase of multiple newspapers,” he said.
The management of H-8 College, in a letter to the AGPR, said the college was functioning with the main library and two other libraries (Seminar Library English and Seminar Library Geography).
It had 1,545 students in intermediate, 690 in graduation and 90 in post-graduation courses, and the college has a budget of Rs40,000 per year for newspapers and periodicals.
Therefore, the college principal requested the AGPR to remove the objections made by the account officer and pass the newspaper bills, the letter said.
President of Federal Government Colleges Teachers Association (FGCTA) Prof Tahir Mehmood said austerity measures taken by the government should be classified logically, especially when educational institutions are concerned where a generation is being prepared to handle the society’s affairs in the future.
`Newspapers are the pioneer in the media of mass communication and a major source of learning in educational institutions.
Its role in education and its significance for both teachers and students cannot be denied.
The government should support newspapers as a supplementary method of improving the standard of education,` he said.
Tahir said on July 1, 2013, the finance division had deducted 30 per cent of FDE funds resulting in problems for the teaching community.
“We have been deprived of house allowances and now students have been deprived of newspapers,” he said.
On the other hand, the accountant general of AGPR, Tahir Mehmud said the AGPR had received a general instruction from the finance division to ban the purchase of newspapers.
“I will look into the matter but I think a clarification would be required from the finance division to find out whether libraries of educational institutions are exempted,” he said.
Internews
