Appointments of 8 varsities’ VCs: Delay in notification causes speculations

PESHAWAR: The delay in issuance of notification for appointment of vice-chancellors of eight public sector universities in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa despite completion of the process some three weeks back has caused spread of speculations about the process. Also, allegations have been leveled against a number of the candidates proposed for the top positions in different universities. The Higher Education Department (HED) has also been accused of tampering the list of candidates proposed for these institutions. The Academic and Search Committee headed by former chairman of the Higher Education Commission (HEC) Dr Ataur Rahman had recommended 24 candidates with a panel of three for each university after the interviews in Islamabad on November 17-18. The HED a couple of days after the interviews moved a summary, which could not be processed further than the chief minister's secretariat as yet, The News learnt reliably.

A senior official of the HED confirmed that the minutes of the cabinet meeting were yet to be approved and only after this was done the summary would be placed before Chief Minister Mahmud Khan for approval. It would then be dispatched to the Governor's Secretariat. After the approval by the governor, who is also chancellor of the public sector universities, the summary would be sent back to the HED which would issue the final notification, the official said.

Another official in the provincial bureaucracy told The News that it was not an inordinate delay. It is the routine process that takes time, he opined. One major reason for the delay said to be the workload of the chief minister's principal secretary who is currently holding additional charge of several departments. Shahab Ali Shah, the principal secretary to the chief minister, is currently having additional charge of secretary administration besides serving as commissioner Peshawar in addition to being the principal secretary to the governor until recently.

Other reports suggested that the summary has already been moved to the Governor's Secretariat, who returned it with serious observations. Sources told The News that the governor observed that the actual list of candidates proposed by the Academic and Search Committee was tampered somewhere and suggested names were replaced with new ones. The governor, according to the reports, took up the issue with the Prime Minister's Secretariat as well as the Academic and Search Committee's head.

The sources said that Prime Minister Imran Khan also took notice of the matter and the issue was discussed with Chief Minister Mahmud Khan in a meeting where the head of the Academic and Search Committee had also been called in Islamabad the other day. The reported meeting may cause further delay in the appointment of the vice-chancellors.

It merits a mention here that 16 universities in the province have been functioning without a full time vice-chancellor. The process for appointment of only eight among them has been completed, which too is now suffering delay.

Fingers have also been pointed at some strange directives of the Academic and Search Committee, which say that only the person at the top of the list of three for each university should be appointed as the vice-chancellor. These verbal directives if followed would slash the role of the chief minister being chief executive of the province and the actual appointing authority of the vice-chancellor and the governor/chancellor of the public sector universities whose final approval, though symbolic, is required for the appointment. The chief minister has the authority to select any among the three shortlisted candidates and the governor would have to approve it, the sources said.

On the other hand, serious allegations have also been levelled against a number of candidates proposed as the top one for vice-chancellor of different universities. There are allegations against the candidate shortlisted as the leading candidate for the University of Peshawar. He is accused of sexual harassment, being too junior for the post and already serving as chairman Pakistan Science Society. In the case of sexual harassment, he has even been convicted and has paid a fine of Rs100,000. However, he says his conviction was quashed by the president of Pakistan. The lady who levelled allegations against him has now approached the Islamabad High Court by filing another case, which is still under trial.

Similar allegations have been made against the top candidate proposed for Bacha Khan University in Charsadda. He is also accused of sexual harassment. The name recommended for Abdul Wali Khan University Mardan is also facing serious allegations of tampering his teaching record and making decisions in his own favour while serving as acting vice-chancellor of the same university. Above all, a National Accountability Bureau (NAB) reference has been approved against him.

Fingers have also been pointed at the candidate shortlisted as top candidate for the vice-chancellor of the Swabi University. It is also alleged that the entire panel for this specific university was changed. Some of the recommended candidates are also facing charges of plagiarism and academic dishonesty.