Person with dubious credentials appointed as VC

KARACHI: Due to the political backing and without required qualifications and experience, an individual allegedly has been appointed VC of Shaheed Benazir Bhutto University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Sakrand, The News learnt.

Dr. Muhammad Farooq was appointed VC of Shaheed Benazir Bhutto University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Sakrand by Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah. Strangely, he continues to hold the charge of Chairman of Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education (BISE), Shaheed Benazirabad in contravention of the Supreme Court orders, due to his alleged political pressure.

Following orders of the Supreme Court, the Sindh government had directed cancellation of all additional charges, but Dr. Farooq continues to hold the charge of Chairman BISE, Shaheed Benazirabad.

According to documents available with ‘The News’, Dr. Farooq got irregular and rapid promotions throughout his career. He was initially appointed as Assistant Professor in (SBBUVAS) Sakrand in 2015 in grade 18 and then was promoted as professor in 2021. Following this promotion, in just two months, in contravention of rules and laws he was appointed as VC. Interestingly he managed to get promoted from grade 18 to grade 22 within six years. According to the eligibility criteria fixed for appointment of a VC, the candidate must possess a PhD degree in veterinary sciences or allied sciences and must have published 25 quality research papers in HEC recognized national and international journals. Besides, the candidate has to have a 20 years of teaching experience as eminent academician along with ten-year higher administrative experience to qualify for VC.

But against this criterion, if one peeps into Dr Farooq’s CV (copy of which is available) he claimed to have 23 years of experience in administration management, financial matters, research and teaching, but actually, he does not have this experience at all. He has a teaching experience of just six years alone. Furthermore, Dr. Farooq claims to have earned a Ph.D. from China, Master of Philosophy (M.Phil.) from Sindh Agriculture University (SAU) Tando Jam, MPA from Allama Iqbal Open University (AIOU) Islamabad, MA of Mass Communication from University of Sindh and MS from Quiad e Azam University, Islamabad, but nowhere does he mention the year when he obtained these.

According to a member of ‘search committee for the selection of VCs’, on the condition of anonymity, the Committee neither has any mechanism to authenticate the academic credentials nor has sufficient staff to carry out verification. “We only rely upon the details provided in CV of the candidates or use online search engines to verify their research work publications,” he concluded.

This reporter approached Dr. Farooq for his version on his initial appointment, rapid promotions, appointment as VC, posting as Chairman of BISE Shaheed Benazirabad, degrees and purchase of vehicle, by sending him detailed text messages on his WhatsApp and messenger, sent him reminders and waited for a week; but till the filing of this story, he avoided to give any response to the queries. The scribe also approached the head of ‘search committee for the selection of VCs’ Dr. Qadeer Rajput, Secretary University of Boards Qazi Shahid Parvez, both of whom refused to respond. Rasheed Channa, spokesman of Sindh CM Syed Murad Shah told The News that CM Sindh believes in merit and VC Dr. Farooq was appointed on the recommendations of the ‘search committee’. However, the CM will set up an inquiry panel to scrutinize the the academic credentials and experience record of Dr Farooq to ensure merit prevails, Channa added.