KP govt finally appoints VCs for eight varsities

PESHAWAR: Putting an end to the growing speculations about the process, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government on Friday notified appointment of vice-chancellor of eight public sector universities for a three-year tenure. The notifications were issued Friday evening after formal approval of the summary by Governor Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Shah Farman Khan, who also serves as chancellor of public sector universities.

The summary moved by the Higher Education Department after the list was finalized by the Academic and Search Committee was approved as it is by the provincial cabinet and then by the governor. Thus all the top candidates have been given the task of leading the universities concerned, reliable sources told The News.

According to the notification, Dr Mohammad Idrees, who was at top of the list of three candidates for the University of Peshawar, has been appointed as vice-chancellor of the biggest and oldest university of the province. He has already served as vice-chancellor of Hazara University and worked as professor in the Punjab University.

Dr Iftikhar Hussain has been appointed as vice-chancellor of University of Engineering and Technology, Peshawar. He recently completed his three-year tenure as vice-chancellor of the same university and got reappointed after passing through the routine process, which took several months.

Dr Sardar Khan has been named as vice-chancellor of the Kohat University of Science and Technology. He topped the list of three candidates for the office. He is currently serving as director of advanced studies at the University of Peshawar and also holds the office of chairman, department of Environmental Sciences.

Dr Bashir Ahmad has been made vice-chancellor of Bacha Khan University, Charsadda. He is among senior faculty members of the University of Peshawar. He is currently serving as dean, Life and Environmental Sciences in the university.

Dr Zahoorul Haq has been appointed as vice-chancellor, Abdul Wali Khan University Mardan. He had been recommended as the top candidate for the university by the Academic and Search Committee. He was already serving as acting vice-chancellor of the same university being its pro-vice-chancellor.

Dr Khairuz Zaman, who had been declared as the most suitable candidate for the University of Science & Technology, Bannu, has been the responsibility of serving as vice-chancellor of the university. Until now he was serving as director of Comsats University Islamabad’s Vehari Campus.

Former vice-chancellor Dr Abid Ali Shah was removed on the charges of sexual harassment from the position of vice-chancellor, University of Science & Technology, Bannu. A video showing him dancing with a girl student went viral on social media that led to his early removal from the office.

Dr Shahid Mehmood Baig is likely to be made vice-chancellor of the University of Swabi. He has already served at the National Institute for Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering. He was currently serving at the Department of Biological Sciences at the Aga Khan University, Karachi.

Dr Zafar M. Khan of the Institute of Space Technology has been made vice-chancellor of the Shuhada-e-Army Public School University of Technology, Nowshera. The position became vacant when Dr Qamrul Wahab resigned from before completion of his tenure. All the appointments have been made for a term of three years, said the notification. A separate summary had been moved for notifying the vice-chancellor of Shaheed Benazir Bhutto Women University Peshawar but it could not be approved and thus notification to this effect could not be issued. This notification has been pending since November 2018. The process for appointment of vice-chancellor has already been completed and the name of the incumbent acting vice-chancellor Prof Dr Razia Sultana has been recommended. But for unknown reasons, her final notification could not be issued so far.

Official sources rejected the speculations of alleged changes in the Academic and Search Committee’s list and favouritism in the process and termed this baseless. They said that it was not possible to make changes in the list and as per the clear decision of the Supreme Court they were bound to appoint the top candidate as vice-chancellor.

About the reported delay in issuance of final notification, the sources said that it was a routine process as the summary had to go through the provincial cabinet and it took some time to finalise the minutes of the cabinet meeting.