Tussle between CM, Ebad continues over DUHS VC appointment

Ebad not willing to appoint Dr Saeed Qureshi as next VC

despite his nomination by Qaim for second time

Karachi

Sindh Governor Dr Ishratul Ebad is not willing to appoint Professor Dr Saeed Qureshi as the next vice chancellor of the Dow University of Health Sciences (DUHS) even though Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah has forwarded his nomination for the second time. The chief minister believes that Dr Qureshi is the ‘most suitable person’ for the post of DUHS vice chancellor, officials privy to the developments told The News on Thursday.

Secretary to the chief minister on education boards and universities, Iqbal Durrani, claimed on Wednesday that a summary recommending the name of Prof Dr Qureshi had been forwarded to the Sindh governor for his appointment as the DUHS vice chancellor.

However, officials at the Governor House denied receiving any such summary. They claimed that the decision would be taken as per the rules and regulations, provided that the summary actually reaches the governor.

The largest medical university of Pakistan has been without a vice chancellor since September 2015 when Prof Dr Masood Hameed, who was one of the founding faculty members, retired from the post after serving for two consecutive terms. Since Dr Hameed’s retirement a silent tussle between the top two authorities of the province, the chief minister and the governor, has delayed the appointment of a new leader for the DUHS.

Under the amended Sindh universities act of 2013, the chief minister is the competent authority to select potential candidates for appointment of vice chancellors of public universities in the province. Once the chief minister has selected the suitable candidates and forwarded his nominations to the governor, his office issues the required notification.

On October 2 last year, the governor dismissed the chief minister’s nominations and issued the notification for the appointment of Prof Dr Naushad Shaikh as the vice chancellor of DUHS. But the appointment was challenged by the Pakistan Medical Association (PMA) in the Sindh High Court after which the governor withdrew the notification.

Since the governor had withdrawn the notification, PMA’s case collapsed and the high court dismissed its petition. But then the governor reissued the notification and appointed his favourite candidate as the DUHS vice chancellor again.

However, the appointment was again challenged in court forcing the governor to appoint the retiree Prof Hameed as the acting vice chancellor of the DUHS. Since then, the outgoing vice chancellor has been looking after the varsity’s affairs but with lesser powers than before.

The News learnt by talking to government officials privy to the developments, that the governor is not ready to appoint Dr Saeed Qureshi, who is the former MS of Civil Hospital Karachi, as the DUHS vice chancellor on the pretext that he had failed to make the newly built trauma centre built at a cost of Rs6 billion functional and describing him to be a “poor administrator” who will not be able to manage the most prestigious health varsity of the province.

The officials claim that the governor is still inclined towards his friend Prof Dr Naushad Shaikh, but he may eventually agree for the appointment of Prof Umer Farooq, the pro-vice chancellor of DUHS.

On the other hand, the supporters of Prof Dr Saeed Qureshi in the provincial government claim that he is a competent surgeon and administrator who has ably managed the Civil hospital as its medical superintendent and also oversaw the construction of the new Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto Trauma Centre.