Agriculture University VC rejects allegations by teachers

PESHAWAR: Vice-Chancellor, Agriculture University, Peshawar, Prof Dr Jehan Bakht has rejected the allegations levelled against him by some protesting teachers and said the varsity has come out of crisis owing to the efforts he made during the past two years.

The teachers and other staff members of the university under the aegis of Agriculture University Teachers (AUTA) have been protesting for the last four weeks for acceptance of their demands.

They have levelled serious allegations against the vice-chancellor. The teachers said the university administration had been unable to hold selection board meetings on time and give genuine rights to the employees.

The protesters claimed that the vice-chancellor was holding the charge of several offices due to which he was unable to focus attention on his own university.

The protesting teachers opined that the current administration had failed to bring the university out of financial crisis. They also questioned the academic qualification of the vice-chancellor and asked why a candidate with third division was appointed as registrar of the university.

But Dr Jehan Bakht brushed aside the allegations as baseless, arguing that a propaganda campaign has been launched to defame him, more so after his name was recommended for the office of vice-chancellor of Islamia College University.

He claimed that he has brought out the Agriculture University from crisis. “The Rs900 million deficit that the university was facing at the time of my arrival as vice-chancellor two years back has been reduced to Rs300 million. I strived for it day and night,” the vice-chancellor said while talking to The News.

He said that the process for the selection board has also been expedited.

“The procedure for the selection board has to be followed. I cannot bypass the due process. I have expedited it and the selection board would be held next month,” he added.

Dr Jehan Bakht claimed that the university administration had accepted all the genuine demands of the teaching and non-teaching staff. “Still a group of teachers was bent upon prolonging the protest to malign me,” he maintained.

Regarding a court decision about regularization of some lecturers, the vice-chancellor said the case was presented before the university syndicate which decided to take a legal opinion on the decision.

He pointed out that the syndicate and the legal experts suggested to the university administration to file a Civil Petition for Leave to Appeal (CPLA) and regularize the services of the employees by following the set procedure for the purpose.

Dr Jehan Bakht is a senior academician in the province and has already served as vice-chancellor of several universities, including the University of Swat and Khushal Khan Khattak University in Karak.

Currently, he is serving as vice-chancellor Agriculture University, Peshawar. He has also been given additional charge as vice-chancellor Islamia College University. He is the fellow of the country’s prestigious Chemical Society and Biological Society.

He is a recipient of the best University Teacher Award by Higher Education Commission, Islamabad, star laureate Award by South Asia Publication, research development effort award by Science and Technology department, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Quaid-e-Azam Gold Medal, and gold medal by Pakistan Academy of Sciences.

Dr Jehan Bakht has also undertaken a number of development projects including establishment of a sub-campus in Shangla district, women sub-campus at the University of Swat, sub-campus of Agricultural University Peshawar at Swat, Energy Centre at Khushal Khan Khattak University in Karak, and energy centre at four new departments.

He has been supervising megaprojects worth Rs1.7 billion for the establishment of Technology Development Centre at University of Agriculture in Peshawar.