Ban on recruitment

PUTA seeks withdrawal of governor’s directives

By Bureau report

PESHAWAR: Peshawar University Teachers Association (PUTA) has expressed serious reservations over the recent directives by chancellor public sector universities stopping vice-chancellors of 12 universities from taking major decisions especially recruitment in their respective higher seats of learning.

The association has also called a meeting of the presidents and general secretaries of the teaching staff associations of the universities concerned at the University of Peshawar today (Wednesday) wherein future line of action would be decided.

An emergency meeting of the executive body of PUTA was held with its president Dr Fazle Nasir in the chair.

The meeting discussed in detail the situation arising from the governor’s decisions to ban vice-chancellor from making major decisions at public sector universities.

The participants of the meeting claimed that the decision was a clear violation of the universities’ act and a blatant intervention in the affairs of the autonomous institutions.

Speaking on the occasion, Dr Fazle Nasir said that government had already reduced the tenure of vice-chancellors from four to three years. Now this decision would inflict serious harms on the affairs of the universities, he said.

He argued that the government was stopping the vice-chancellors appointed by them from performing their duties while they would remain in the offices for several more months.

“This is a kind of no-trust on the officers serving in the most prestigious offices of vice-chancellors of the public sector universities,” he remarked.

He informed that the meeting of teachers’ representatives from different universities would discuss the situation and decisions would be taken about their future line of action.

He asked the government to reconsider the decision and withdraw the letter to pave the way for smooth running of the universities’ affairs.