AWKU fires 70 contractual employees

Official explains only those terminated from service whose contracts had expired

PESHAWAR: The appointment of a new vice chancellor at the Abdul Wali Khan University (AWKU) in Mardan has seen a raft of new changes, including the sacking of several contractual employees and the installation of biometric attendance devices for students and staffers.

However, some believe that the dismissals may be linked to the Mashal Khan case.



Five months ago, Professor Dr Ihsan Ali Khan had retired as the AWKU vice chancellor. Since then, the varsity did not have a permanent VC. Just weeks later on April 13, a student of the journalism department, Mashal Khan, was shot and lynched to death by a mob in the varsity.

During the course of investigations, when it emerged that the varsity was operating without a vice chancellor, the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa government appointed Professor Dr Khursheed Ahmed as the new head of the university in July 2017.

Subsequently, the new VC embarked upon sweeping reforms in the varsity.

A senior official of AWKU told The Express Tribune that the newly appointed vice chancellor has fired 70 contractual staffers. On the other hand, the hiring of new staff had been halted with directions to the varsity’s administration to trim the financial burden of the university.

The official, who did not wish to be named, said that Dr Ahmed had expressed concerns over how the varsity’s salary budget had swelled from Rs600.2 million in July 2016 to Rs900.3 million by August 2017.

In a recent meeting of senior administration officials of AWKU, the official said, the vice chancellor asked the administration to how the number of non-faculty members had ballooned in just a year.

The VC had subsequently ordered an inquiry into the appointments. Moreover, a crackdown was launched against those who had been illegally appointed under previous regimes and sought reports from the department concerned.

Meanwhile, AWKU Deputy Registrar Hassan Khan confirmed to The Express Tribune that contractual employees had been terminated from service. He added that over 30 contractual employees appointed in posts lower than basic pay scale grade 15 have been sacked.

Further, Hassan said that the new vice chancellor had promulgated a new set of rules which dictate that the minimum duration of contracts would be for a year while they would extend to a maximum of three years.



He further explained that once contracts of employees expire this week, the university will issue termination letters for them.

When asked, the deputy registrar denied that the terminated employees were linked to the Mashal Khan case, clarifying that they had only been terminated after their contracts expired.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 8^th, 2017.