In need of direction : CM’s China visit delays appointment of VCs

Varsities facing various administrative issues without head figures

LAHORE: Appointments of vice chancellors at public universities of Punjab may get delayed further as Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif has left for China on a one-week visit.

In its verdict over a case on the appointment of VCs, the LHC gave the go-ahead to the Punjab government to appoint these officials at four of the 15 public sector institutes as per recommendations of their respective search committees.

The four varsities included Punjab University, Lahore College for Women University (LCWU), University of Sargodha (UoS) and Muhammad Nawaz Sharif University of Engineering & Technology (MNSUET) in Multan.



Academic circles asked the government to appoint VCs at the earliest as these seats of learning were facing administrative problems due to makeshift arrangements. New appointments for the remaining 11 universities were pending as the government was yet to advertise for the post of vice chancellors. Out of these, the tenure of the VCs had expired at three universities, four were newly-established, two were under the Punjab Specialised Healthcare and Medical Education Department (SH&MED) and the same number under the Punjab Agriculture Department.



These 11 universities included Information Technology University (ITU) Lahore, University of Agriculture Faisalabad (UAF), Pir Mehr Ali Shah Arid Agriculture University Rawalpindi (PMAS-AAUR), University of Health Sciences (UHS) Lahore, Fatima Jinnah Medical University (FJMU) Lahore, Women University Multan, Ghazi University Dera Ghazi Khan, University of Okara, University of Sahiwal, University of Jhang and University of Home Economics Lahore.



The Punjab government is yet to form search committees to find VCs for these institutes. Out of the total 15 universities, 11 fell under the jurisdiction of the Punjab Higher Education Department (HED), while two were under the SH&MED and as many under the agriculture department.

Meanwhile, a summary had been moved to the CM for the varsities for which the LHC gave its nod to appoint VCs. The appointments were expected to take place in a week. However, since the CM was part of the delegation from Pakistan at the One Belt, One Road (OBOR) Summit 2017 in China, the decision over appointments is expected to be delayed even further.

When contacted, Punjab government spokesperson Malik Muhammad Ahmed Khan told The Express Tribune that the process of appointments had started for four universities and the summary was moved. “The CM will be back from China on May 17 and the summary is expected to be signed by May 18 or 19.”

The candidates for the vice chancellor slot at PU include incumbent VC Dr Zafar Mueen Nasir, Dr Zakaria Zakar and Dr Mujahid Kamran. For LCWU, the contest is between incumbent VC Dr Rukhsana Kausar, Dr Uzma Qureshi and Dr Shahida Hasnain. At UoS, the candidates include Dr Ishtiaq Ahmad, Dr Tahir Kamran and Dr Zafar Mueen Nasir. For MNSUET, Dr Aamir Ijaz, Dr Mohammad Zubair and Dr Shahid Munir are candidates.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 13^th, 2017.