PESHAWAR:Alleged political influence, procedural delays and in some cases the non-availability of deans is hampering the appointment of pro-vice-chancellors at several public sector universities in the province and causing administrative problems and violation of Universities Act.
Currently, the University of Engineering and Technology (UET) Peshawar, University of Peshawar, University of Swabi and the Hazara University are without pro-vice-chancellors.
Summaries for appointment of the former two were moved several months ago but this could not be done due to a host of reasons. At the remaining two universities, deans are not available due to which the process for appointment of pro-vice-chancellors could not be initiated, a senior officer of the Higher Education Department said.
Owing to the non-appointment of the pro-vice-chancellor at University of Engineering and Technology, the Universities Act could not be fully implemented there and according to some officials it is violation of the relevant law. This university has been working without a regular vice-chancellor for the last one year.
On completion of his third consecutive term of four years in January, former vice-chancellor Imtiaz Hussain Gilani was given a three-month extension till the appointment of the new vice-chancellor.
However, the faculty and other staff members of the university strongly protested the extension given to Imtiaz Hussain Gilani. They forced the government to withdraw the notification and appoint Dr Iftikhar Hussain as acting vice-chancellor till further order.
Later, the post was advertised and the name of Dr Qamarul Wahab recommended for the office after a seven-month long process. But after the completion of the process it was found that Dr Qamarul Wahab had some problems with his qualification and the process was annulled.
On the other hand, the Universities Act 2012 was amended in February wherein appointment of a pro-vice-chancellor at every university was made mandatory. The act says: “There shall be a pro-vice-chancellor of a university to be appointed by the chancellor from among the three senior most deans/teachers for a period of two years.”
According to the act, the pro-vice-chancellor would act as officiating or acting vice-chancellor in case of absence of the vice-chancellor. After the enforcement of the act, the universities were asked to propose names of their senior most deans/teachers for appointment as pro-vice-chancellor.
Like other universities, the UET also submitted a summary having three names including Prof Dr Noor Mohammad, dean faculty of engineering, Prof Dr Naeem Arbab and Prof Dr Naeem Akhtar for the position.
The summary was processed by the Higher Education Department and forwarded to the chief minister’s secretariat so that one of the professors among the three could be recommended to the chancellor for appointment as pro-vice-chancellor. However, according to the sources, the summary was kept pending at the chief minister’s office.
Some reports suggested that the acting vice-chancellor hailed from the native district of the chief minister and this was the reason the appointment of pro-vice-chancellor has been kept pending for such a long time.
A similar summary was moved for appointment of pro-vice-chancellor for the University of Peshawar where the names of Prof Dr Amir Nawaz Khan, dean faculty of environmental sciences, Dr Abid, dean faculty of numerical sciences, Dr Bushra Hameed, dean faculty of management sciences and Dr Zafar Iqbal were recommended.
The name of Dr Amir Nawaz got recommendation from the Chief Minster’s Secretariat even for the office. But the chancellor returned the summary with the observation regarding his alleged involvement in a sexual harassment case that he has been facing for nearly three years.Dr Amir Nawaz tried his best to get his name cleared so that he could be appointed as pro-vice-chancellor but to no avail. Now that he is going to retire on January 12, 2017, there are meagre chances of his appointment as pro-vice-chancellor.
The process for appointment of pro-vice-chancellors at the University of Swabi and University of Hazara could not be moved forward.
An official of the Higher Education Department said that owing to non-availability of deans in the two universities the process for appointment of pro-vice-chancellor could not be initiated there.
