Illegal appointments: Nepotism, favouritism continue at AIOU

VC’s son among two lecturers, an assistant registrar inducted despite recruitment ban.

ISLAMABAD:

Total disregard for merit, violation of rules and nepotism have become a norm at the Allama Iqbal Open University (AIOU), the largest distance learning institute of the country, as two lecturers and an assistant registrar has been inducted in the university in violation of the rules.

An official in the university on the condition of anonymity told The Express Tribune that the acting vice-chancellor (VC) Dr Ali Asghar Chishti has appointed two lecturers in the Sharia and Law Department on contractual basis and an assistant registrar nomination.

Interestingly, one of the lecturers, Ihsanul Haq Chishti, is the son of the VC, who has been inducted in the Arabic Department.

“The VC wants to make his son’s position secure before the end of his tenure,” the official claimed.

The other lecturer, Ayesha Sanober, has been appointed in the Sharia and Law Department.

Sanober has been appointed lecturer despite the fact that she has even failed to get a degree from the university because she is a relative of Associate Professor Dr Ghulam Yousuf of the Sharia and Law Department, the official said.

These appointments have been made in violation of a government order imposing a ban on recruitment on regular and contractual basis in government departments and institutions, he added.

According to the official, Dr Yousuf was the head of a university committee which had compiled a list of professors for promoting to grade-22 as meritorious professors. Interestingly, Dr Yousuf is serving in grade-20 and he was not eligible to evaluate a person for a grade-22 post but he was included in the committee by the VC, the official said.

Ammad Tariq Nawaz Janjua, son of Ministry of Education Joint Secretary Tariq Nawaz Janjua, has been appointed as Assistant Registrar Nomination.  The joint secretary was one of the selection board members which approved the promotion of the acting VC and the registrar to grade-22.

Janjua is also member of the executive council, which is going to meet on August 28 to approve the recommendations for appointment of meritorious professors.

According to an earlier report appeared in this newspaper, the selection board recommended names of the acting VC and registrar to be promoted to grade-22 in violation of rules and laws of the university and the Higher Education Commission.

The VC has been convicted in a plagiarism case by the HEC while the registrar has an adverse ACR (2008) against him. The registrar deceived the board members by deleting the adverse ACR against himself when the selection board took up the matter.

Even the selection board was set up in violation of rules, as the acting VC was one of the members of the selection board. According to rules, a person who was to be promoted could not sit in the selection board meeting.

Janjua acted in complicity with the VC and the registrar in order to get favours. In return, the VC appointed his son as assistant registrar.

An official said that the VC and the registrar wanted to be promoted to grade-22 as both of them wanted to grab the VC position, once announced in future. “They are bribing different officials for the purpose,” he said.

The acting VC was not available for comments, while Janjua refused to discuss the matter and hang up the phone, asking this correspondent to visit his office on Monday. He did not reply to text messages sent on his cell phone.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 25^th, 2014.