Pro-VC of ICU sent on forced leave

PESHAWAR: Pro-Vice-Chancellor and Acting Vice-Chancellor of the historic Islamia College University (ICU) Prof Dr Naushad Khan was Tuesday sent on forced leave in line with the irregularities pointed out by the Governor Inspection Team (GIT).

The additional charge of the university’s top office was assigned to Vice-Chancellor of the Agriculture University, Peshawar, Professor Dr Jehan Bakht. The action notified on Tuesday was awaited for the last one week when the matter was highlighted in the media after the Governor Shah Farman who is chancellor of the public sector universities directed the Higher Education Department to send the acting vice-chancellor on forced leave on account of alleged irregularities highlighted in the media and pointed out by the GIT in its report.

The notification read: “The governor has been pleased to send Prof Dr Naushad Khan, pro-vice-chancellor, Islamia College University, on forced leave for a period of ninety days with immediate effect on account of acts of mismanagement/ maladministration reported in the print, electronic media as well as irregularities and nepotism pointed out by the Governor Inspection team in its report.” It added: “The governor has also been pleased to assign additional charge of the post of vice-chancellor, Islamia College University, to Prof Dr Jehan Bakht, Vice-chancellor, University of Agriculture, Peshawar, with immediate effect till further orders.”

Unhappy with the allegations levelled against him, Dr Naushad had approached the court to seek some relief and had also closed the university for a week. He had rejected the charges against him. But, his efforts failed to bear any fruit. Islamia College University, one of the most prestigious institutions of the province, has been facing serious issues of mismanagement, gross irregularities, nepotism and favouritism for the last several years. The matter had been assigned to the GIT for a thorough inquiry about a year back. The GIT recently submitted a 550-page report covering almost every aspect of the institution. The report carried eight-page recommendations wherein major penalties had been recommended to a number of professors and senior officers in the university, especially the pro-vice-chancellor.

The report followed by the governor’s directives to the HED to send the pro-vice-chancellor on forced leave compelled some senior professors to launch a race for acquiring the office. But the matter was so complicated that it took several days for the HED to decide it and issued the notification. No doubt Islamia College does have a bunch of very learned and senior professors. But, some names had appeared in the GIT report while others had other problems like their nearing retirement. Some of them were, however, clean and senior but perhaps the perpetual leg pulling among them hindered their way to make it to the top office. To mention some of them, Dr Inayat Ali Shah, who seemed to be the most excited to make his way to the office, had been mentioned in the GIT report that the case pertaining to his publications should be presented before the university’s senate, which should form a committee to look into the matter. The equivalence of his PhD degree from Saga University also needed to be fixed, the report had said. Similarly, the Dr Sareer Badshah’s PhD degree’s verification had been pointed out in the report. Dr Nisar, another senior professor of the university, is supposed to retire in a couple of months.

The names of Dr Abdul Salam Khalis and Dr Naeem Khalid, the senior-most professors were clean, but they seemed to be the least interested in getting the position. The faculty members of the university welcomed the naming of Dr Jehan Bakht as acting vice-chancellor with the hope that he would put things in order at the great institution.