Under the microscope: After ex-staffer complains, FIA sets out to scrutinise KU affairs
FIA to look into how the university makes appointments, promotions and contracts.
KARACHI:
In what appears to be an unprecedented move, the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has tasked its sleuths with finding out how fair the Karachi University’s administration is when giving people jobs or promoting staff.
It is unusual for the federal agency to look into the affairs of an autonomous public sector educational institution. But FIA Director Muazzam Jah explained that they had the power because the federally run Higher Education Commission funded KU. “This empowers the agency to look into its affairs and see if there are any irregularities,” he added while talking to The Express Tribune. That is why its corporate crime circle has started the investigation.
The complaint
The FIA went into action after receiving a complaint from one of the retired employees of the university.
The pro-vice chancellor of the university, Dr Shahana Urooj Kazmi, also confirmed to The Express Tribune that their registrar has received a letter from the FIA. “It (letter) is being processed to provide the information as required by the agency,” she added.
In the letter, the FIA’s deputy director Altaf Hussain has asked the registrar, Professor Kaleem Raza Khan, to provide them with all the records of staff appointments from grades 1 to 20 from 2008 to date. The agency had also sent two separate letters to the campus estate officer, Naeemur Rehman, and executive engineer, Adeel Ahmed Siddiqui, asking about encroachments on university land as well as details of the civil contracts awarded during the same period along with the names of the contractors.
The deputy director of the FIA, Altaf Hussain, told The Express Tribune that the agency had received a complaint with documentary evidence from an ex-employee of the university whose name he declined to disclose. “At the moment we are only gathering some information which will then be scrutinised to ascertain the authenticity of the complaint,” he said, adding that the agency would finally record the statements of the persons against whom the complaint is addressed.
“It is mandatory for them [university officials] to provide the information in the given time frame. Otherwise we would foray into relevant departments to secure the information,” he added.
A university official also referred to another letter from the FIA which alleged that eight officers were illegally appointed and granted promotions. The FIA has demanded a complete record of these eight officers.
The officers include resident auditor Rizwan Shamim, deputy registrar Syed Zafar Hussain, director for physical education Anjum Aziz, chief accountant Qamar Iqbal Khan, senior medical officer Dr Nadeemuz Zaman, deputy controller Qamar Alam, deputy controller Muhammad Arif, and deputy registrar Asif Mukhtar.
As the university failed to provide the information to the FIA by the deadline of January 30, the agency has sent another letter as a reminder.
Another official of the university explained that though the registrar had said that the matter must be treated as most urgent, the process of compiling this information takes time. “The record of appointments is not computerised and it takes time to tally with the files and prepare lists of employees,” said the official.
As all of this was happening, the president of the KU officers’ associations, Tahir Khan, felt that the university should see whether the FIA has the power to look into KU’s affairs. “In my opinion, as an autonomous body, the university should hold internal investigations if there are any complaints of irregularities,” he said. “However, if the administration has decided to cooperate with the agency, we have no problem with that as well.”
Published in The Express Tribune, February 4th, 2012.
In what appears to be an unprecedented move, the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has tasked its sleuths with finding out how fair the Karachi University’s administration is when giving people jobs or promoting staff.
It is unusual for the federal agency to look into the affairs of an autonomous public sector educational institution. But FIA Director Muazzam Jah explained that they had the power because the federally run Higher Education Commission funded KU. “This empowers the agency to look into its affairs and see if there are any irregularities,” he added while talking to The Express Tribune. That is why its corporate crime circle has started the investigation.
The complaint
The FIA went into action after receiving a complaint from one of the retired employees of the university.
The pro-vice chancellor of the university, Dr Shahana Urooj Kazmi, also confirmed to The Express Tribune that their registrar has received a letter from the FIA. “It (letter) is being processed to provide the information as required by the agency,” she added.
In the letter, the FIA’s deputy director Altaf Hussain has asked the registrar, Professor Kaleem Raza Khan, to provide them with all the records of staff appointments from grades 1 to 20 from 2008 to date. The agency had also sent two separate letters to the campus estate officer, Naeemur Rehman, and executive engineer, Adeel Ahmed Siddiqui, asking about encroachments on university land as well as details of the civil contracts awarded during the same period along with the names of the contractors.
The deputy director of the FIA, Altaf Hussain, told The Express Tribune that the agency had received a complaint with documentary evidence from an ex-employee of the university whose name he declined to disclose. “At the moment we are only gathering some information which will then be scrutinised to ascertain the authenticity of the complaint,” he said, adding that the agency would finally record the statements of the persons against whom the complaint is addressed.
“It is mandatory for them [university officials] to provide the information in the given time frame. Otherwise we would foray into relevant departments to secure the information,” he added.
A university official also referred to another letter from the FIA which alleged that eight officers were illegally appointed and granted promotions. The FIA has demanded a complete record of these eight officers.
The officers include resident auditor Rizwan Shamim, deputy registrar Syed Zafar Hussain, director for physical education Anjum Aziz, chief accountant Qamar Iqbal Khan, senior medical officer Dr Nadeemuz Zaman, deputy controller Qamar Alam, deputy controller Muhammad Arif, and deputy registrar Asif Mukhtar.
As the university failed to provide the information to the FIA by the deadline of January 30, the agency has sent another letter as a reminder.
Another official of the university explained that though the registrar had said that the matter must be treated as most urgent, the process of compiling this information takes time. “The record of appointments is not computerised and it takes time to tally with the files and prepare lists of employees,” said the official.
As all of this was happening, the president of the KU officers’ associations, Tahir Khan, felt that the university should see whether the FIA has the power to look into KU’s affairs. “In my opinion, as an autonomous body, the university should hold internal investigations if there are any complaints of irregularities,” he said. “However, if the administration has decided to cooperate with the agency, we have no problem with that as well.”
Published in The Express Tribune, February 4th, 2012.