Lack of regular VC: Management, academic issues loom at Swabi varsity

PESHAWAR: The University of Swabi has been functioning without a regular vice-chancellor for the last one year resulting in management and academic issues.

Though allegations of irregularities in recruitments, postings and financial matters have surfaced, the government has been unable to advertise the position.

The office had fallen vacant on the completion of his term by former vice-chancellor Dr Imtiaz Ali Khan in June 2020. The position had already been advertised and the former vice-chancellor had been stopped from even holding selection boards and doing other necessary administrative functions six-months prior to the completion of his term.

The process for recruitment had already been started and the acting charge of the university was assigned to the pro-vice-chancellor of the university, Dr Syed Mukarram Shah. On completion of the recruitment process, Dr Shahid Mahmoud Baig was appointed vice-chancellor of the university in November, last year.

However, he declined to join the university and thus the office remained vacant.

The government neither appointed any one of the remaining two candidates placed on the panel of three candidates for the university nor advertised the position for fresh appointment.

Thus, the acting vice-chancellor got the opportunity to continue functioning in an acting capacity.

Meanwhile, the vice-chancellor of Women University Swabi Dr Shahana Urooj Kazmi was sent on forced leave in March this year and the additional charge of this university was also given to Dr Mukarram Shah.

During the last year, the misuse of power and irregularities in recruitments were reported in the University of Swabi under the caretaker set up.

At the women’s university, too, the acting vice-chancellor took “credit” for sacking the employees appointed by his predecessor and replacing them with own “blue-eyed” ones.

The situation in the University of Swabi was even worse where more than 100 employees/officials were recruited despite the closure of the university on account of the coronavirus pandemic.

The new recruits included some blood relatives of the acting vice-chancellor besides blue-eyed people of some influential former and current bureaucrats and police officers, some reports suggested.

Article 17(a) of the Universities Act was allegedly violated and almost all the administrative positions were filled out with teaching staff and the administrative officers were transferred to other departments/sections.

The duties of the registrar and the treasurer were assigned to a deputy treasurer, while the treasurer of the university was transferred to the planning and development section.

It was learnt that the director planning and development is an assistant professor, director admission is a lecturer, controller examination is an associate professor, director academics belongs to the teaching cadre.

Anomalies were pointed out in the appointment of the project director and other staff for the Rs 1.3 billion project for the infrastructural development in the new campus of the university under which some academic blocks, hostels, library and residential quarters are to be built. The project was approved during the tenure of former vice-chancellor Dr Imtiaz Ali.

A former assistant professor of the university, who has done his PhD in genetics, was appointed director of the project.

He was allegedly not meeting the basic criteria for the office. But rulers were relaxed enough for him to appoint him to the prized position, the sources said.

When reached for comments, the acting vice-chancellor admitted that over 100 people had been recruited by him under the emergency powers entrusted to him by the Universities Act.

He said that former vice-chancellor Dr Imtiaz Ali Khan had opened 14 new departments in the university but not a single person had been hired in those departments on a regular basis. Therefore, they were in dire need of employees, officials, which they did on contractual/fixed pay basis for one semester.

Now that the semester has been completed, they would have to rehire those officials or recruit new people. He said that the process had been completed transparently and no irregularity was made in it.

The sources, on the other hand, said all the contractual, fixed pay employees and visiting faculties hired by the former vice-chancellor were sacked by the acting vice-chancellor only to accommodate people of his choice.

Regarding violation of rule 17(a), he said that the university was facing a dearth of administrative staff, which was why they had to post teaching staff against administrative positions.

About the alleged anomalies in the recruitment of the project director, the acting vice-chancellor said the allegations were completely baseless.

The positions were advertised, the applications thoroughly scrutinised and after a transparent process, the appointment was made.

A Higher Education Commission’s representative was part of the panel that interviewed the candidates for the post.

He said they were also striving to hold a selection board for recruitment as per the advertisement issued in 2018.

The applications are being scrutinized once more and the process would hopefully be completed in a month or two and the selection board would be held, he said.