HED asks Punjab universities to beef up security

LAHORE:  Higher Education Department (HED Punjab has asked the public sector universities to beef up security as there were reports of possible terrorist activities, especially at the start of new year. Sources in the department said the instructions were forwarded to the universities following a threat alert from the Home Department. 

Meanwhile, an official said the department had moved a summary to the chief minister for acting vice chancellors (VCs) at four public sector universities of the province on the directions of Lahore High Court (LHC).

A division bench of the Lahore High Court had recently ordered the provisional appointment of Dr Zafar Mueen Nasar, Dr Rukhsana Kausar, Dr Ishtiaq Ahmed and Dr Mohammad Zubair, as VCs of the Punjab University, Lahore College for Women University, University of Sargodha and Nawaz Sharif University of Engineering and Technology Multan, respectively. The court had picked up these names from a list of nominees already finalised by the government’s VCs Search Committee. 

The official said the department would issue notification of these appointments once the approval from CM and the governor/chancellor was received.    The News could not contact HED Secretary Nasim Nawaz for his version despite repeated attempts on his cell-phone.