Empty SBP Memorial Chairs

In a country not reputed to honour predecessors and academics, Governor Shamshad Akhtar of the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) and five public sector universities signed historic MoUs on March 13, 2007, to establish the SBP Memorial Chairs after the names of its former governors. The list of universities included Karachi, Punjab, Sindh, Peshawar and Balochistan. Karachi, where the SBP is headquartered, was honoured with the chair named after the first governor, Zahid Hussain. Punjab, Sindh and Peshawar universities were assigned the chairs named after the next three governors, Abdul Qadir, Shujaat Ali Hasnie and Mahbubur Raschid. The fifth chair at the Balochistan University memorialised the seventh governor, S Osman Ali, who died before the fifth and the sixth governors, Shakirullah Durrani and Ghulam Ishaq Khan. Established later, the last-mentioned chairs went to the Pakistan Institute of Development Economics in Islamabad and the AJK University, Muzaffarabad. These were followed by a chair at the Quaid-e-Azam University in Islamabad, IA Hanfi Memorial Chair at Bahauddin Zakariya University, Multan, Kassim Parekh Memorial Chair at Gomal University, DI Khan and AGN Kazi Memorial Chair at Karakoram International University of Gilgit Baltistan.

In general, memorial chairs are meant to honour not only those whose names they carry, but also to recognise the contributions of academic and research leaders who are sill alive and kicking. Their main job is to inspire and lead research at the universities. An effort is made to avoid strengthening one institution at the expense of the other. The SBP chairs have similar objectives: “As a part of its endeavour to enhance the standard of teaching and research in economics, especially in the fields of monetary policy, exchange rate management, capital flows, financial sector stability, and economic growth, SBP has established Chairs in the honour of its former governors in various public sector universities.” The stated requirement is of “renowned academicians/researchers.” However, only one or two appointments made so far meet this objective. Some appointees had not yet gone beyond associate professorship. Selection at this level also means movement of the academics from universities without chairs to those with chairs, depleting the human resource of the former. This is not the only problem, especially after the assumption of office by the PTI government and the installation of the present team at the SBP. As in other institutions, the process of filling the vacancies has become painfully slow. Interviews were held for six vacant chairs in October last year. The outcome is not known even after a lapse of one year. When enquired, an HR staff responded: “This is with reference to the concerns raised by you about the procedure followed for the selection of candidates for SBP Memorial Chairs. Please be advised that as per practice, only the shortlisted candidates are informed and called for further process subsequent to the interviews. The appointment against the said vacant chairs was as per merit and in line with SBP policy.”

This is a lie. I checked the SBP website before sending this piece. The website continues to invite applications for the six vacancies. As for the merit, all those interviewed in October last year were senior academics, most of them more qualified than the interviewers themselves! As per requirement, they were “renowned academicians/researchers.” Again, short-listing is for interviews. Nowhere the procedure talks about a second round of short listing after the interviews. Surprisingly, the website gives no contact information about the designated officer under the Right to Information Act. It is time the SBP comes clean. One had heard of Clapham’s empty economic boxes, not empty economic chairs!

Published in The Express Tribune, October 30^th, 2020.

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