First day back: HEC head turned away from office by protesting employees

Matter to be discussed in commission meeting today.

ISLAMABAD:

Re-appointed Higher Education Commission (HEC) Executive Director Dr Sohail Naqvi was forced to leave his office by protesting employees soon after he arrived for his first day back.

Dr Naqvi was reappointed on Wednesday on the directives of HEC Chairman Javed R Leghari, and attempted to begin routine work on Thursday. Permanent employees of HEC, however, made this a hard task.

To protest against the extension of his term for the third time, the determined employees gathered outside his office, chanting slogans and threatening to enter his office unless he left the building.

“HEC employees will always support the rule of law and not allow anyone to violate the HEC Ordinance 2002, which clearly mentions that the ED of HEC cannot hold his post for more than two terms of four years each,” said one of the officials.

The determined employees chanted slogans against Naqvi and Leghari, asking them to step down and threatened to enter his office unless he left.

Naqvi came out and left his office in his car; while the employees proceeded towards Leghari’s office to protest against “his twist and turns in decisions”.

“We told him (Leghari) in clear terms that Naqvi is not accepted,” said one official.

According to negotiators, the chairman said that the issue would be discussed in a meeting of the commission on December 14. Another official said that the chairman assured them that “proper procedure would be adopted for the recruitment of a new ED.”

Another official at the HEC was of the view that the protestors were being influenced by outsiders. “They (outsiders) have some vested interests and are making the issue personality-centric,” he remarked.

When contacted, HEC chairman Leghari told The Express Tribune that he was taken aback by the behaviour of the protesting employees. “There should be a dialogue. I believe in freedom of speech and thought, not violence as it is not reflective of the HEC,” he said. When asked about the assurances given to the employees, he said, he told them it was up to the commission to decide the matter in its meeting today (Friday).



The controversy

On November 29, the Establishment Division appointed Major (retd) Chaudhry as the new ED of the HEC, which triggered an outcry from contractual employees, who are also at the centre of the controversy.

Following this, on December 3, Chaudhry transferred an officer but the decision was nullified by the HEC chairman, who stated that “he does not have the jurisdiction to appoint an ED, as under HEC Act Section 11 (1), only the commission reserves that right.”

On December 6, following a Senate Standing Committee on Education and Training meeting, Leghari sent a notification to the acting ED that ‘in view of the meeting in Parliament, the discussions and the assurances by the committee chairman, you will continue (to) perform your functions as acting ED.

The prime minister also stepped in and directed the HEC chairman to stop the processes of extension to Naqvi as the ED and Dr Riaz Hussain Qureshi as the adviser.

A case related to the ED’s appointment is also being heard at the Supreme Court.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 14^th, 2012.