This refers to the news report ‘Dr Umar Saif asked to step down from Punjab IT Board, University’ (November 15). I had known Dr Saif as my student at LUMS, where he was among the top performing students, and kept track of his career progression right from his university days. When he was considering taking up the position of chairman of the PITB, I had advised him against taking up a public sector job because of the politicisation of such jobs. Probably he was charmed by the former CM of Punjab and his passion for digitisation of the government that he decided to take up the position. It is a matter of record that during Dr Saif’s stewardship of the PITB, the documented evidence bears testimony to his singular contribution to digitise different sectors of the Punjab government. He was also the pioneering VC of ITU.
As an academic, I know how difficult it is to attract talented faculty, especially foreign-trained, to our universities but Dr Saif served as the magnetic pull to attract highly-talented faculty to the university and this institution is now on the international map of quality institution in the field of information technology. That the PTI-led government has asked a world renowned professional to quit the two positions he was holding in the previous Punjab government is disappointing. If the primary reason had been his association with the former CM, let me remind the present government that it had similar other professionals working for it who, in the past, had been advisors to Shahbaz Sharif. If this practice were to continue, no professional would ever work for the public sector.
Dr Zafar I Qureshi
Lahore