Special Assistant to Sindh Chief Minister Waqar Mehdi has expressed anger over the delay in appointing a regular director to Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto (SMBB) Chair of Karachi University.
On Monday, the advisory committee of the SMBB Chair held a meeting to review progress work on the SMBB Chair. On the occasion, Sindh Minister for Universities and Boards Muhammad Ismail Rahoo asked KU acting vice chancellor Prof Dr Nasira Khatoon and the SMBB Chair acting director what steps the varsity had taken to appoint a regular director.
Responding to the minister’s question, the VC and the acting director said that the varsity administration intended to publish an advertisement and start the process of the appointment as soon as possible. However, Special Assistant to Chief Minister Waqar Mehdi presented before the meeting an already published advertisement for the position.
Expressing anger over the delay in the appointment a regular SMBB Chair director, he said the varsity did not want to appoint a regular director because the acting director wanted to keep the chair nonfunctional and use it for personal gains. He said the acting director did not want that a person from outside be appointed as director.
On this, KU syndicate and SMBB Chair advisory committee member Sahibzadah Moazzam Qureshi said the SMBB Chair had been neglected from day one by the varsity administration. He said the acting administration deliberately ignored the responsibility of running the affairs of the SMBB Chair smoothly. Also, he alleged, the chair was put on the back burner on political grounds,
Responding to Qureshi’s allegations, the acting VC said the Universities and Boards Department had stopped the appointment process. At this, Rahoo asked if the acting VC had sent a reminder to the Universities and Boards Department. But Mehdi intervened and said the KU administration ignored the SMBB Chair because it was associated with a great leader, Benazir Bhutto.
On the occasion, Prof ND Khan said the varsity administration had been lying for the last 14 years and it had no intentions to functionalise the chair. They, however, concluded that the appointment should be completed within a month and the advisory committee should be informed accordingly. They also directed the KU’s acting administration to complete the construction work of the SMBB Chair’s building and its convention centre.