Federal govt decides to amend Fuuast ordinance to improve its affairs

The federal government has decided to amend the ordinance of the Federal Urdu University to improve its affairs, under which the post of deputy chair is being abolished in the university and the post of pro-chancellor is being established in its place, which will be allocated to the federal minister for education and professional training.

The bill also makes changes to the Senate, the highest financial and administrative body of the university, which will be headed by the chancellor.

The members will be the pro-chancellor, vice-chancellor, secretary of the concerned ministry or his nominated joint secretary, five persons to be appointed by the chancellor on the recommendation of the pro-chancellor (of distinction in the fields of administration, management, education, academics, law, accountancy, medicine, fine arts, architecture, agriculture, science, technology and engineering such that the appointment of these persons reflects a balance across the various field), one eminent/decorated literary person to be appointed by the chancellor on the recommendation of the pro-chancellor, and three university teachers from three campuses of the university -- Islamabad, Gulshan-e-Iqbal and Abdul Haq Campuses) -- by direct elections.

According to the bill, the pro-chancellor will also head the committee to search for the vice-chancellor of Urdu University, while the members will include the secretary of the concerned ministry and the chairman of the Higher Education Commission, while four eminent experts in management and education will be its members, who will be appointed by the pro-chancellor.

The bill reduces the tenure of vice-chancellors from 5 years to 4 years, while in the absence of the vice-chancellor, the pro-chancellor will appoint an acting vice-chancellor for 120 days.

It may be recalled that this bill was previously passed in the National Assembly and the Senate, but President Arif Alvi objected to the bill and returned it on August 10, 2023.