SBBUVAS VC rebuts report

ISLAMABAD: Dr Muhammad Farooq, vice chancellor (VC) of the Shaheed Benazir Bhutto University of Veterinary & Animal Sciences (SBBUVAS) Sakrand, has sent a rebuttal to a story, published in The News on May 24, 2021.

He said in his reply that “every university, before recruiting faculty or administrative staff, scrutinises their credentials and presents those to the selection board after verification through a committee and approval by the syndicate/ senate, which are prestigious forums.

“As far as my qualifications are concerned, my PhD is from a world ranking and renowned Chinese University, and I had already got an equivalence certificate from the HEC,” Dr Farooq said.

“And the other degrees, including MPhil, MA, MPA and DVM were also attested by the HEC. I am overqualified for the post of a professor and the VC,” he said. “I have more than 35 research publications to my credit, published in the international HEC-recognised journals, whereas 15 are required for a professor and the VC posts.

“As far as my promotion or recruitment is concerned, it’s not unique. All professors in my university had been my colleagues since graduation (DVM), and they were also recruited like me. Even the previous acting VC, and some of my colleagues at the Sindh Agriculture University Tando Jam, became professors a couple of years ago, and we got late due to the late advertisement. So the process adopted was not specific for me, nor unique in my case.

“I have more than 23 years professional experience to my credit, which is also more than sufficient. “As far as the process for appointment as the VC is concerned, all my credentials were scrutinised and I went through all steps, like other candidates. It will be surprising for you that we all three, short-listed candidates for the VC slot, had been colleagues since our graduation.

“So how can the search committee overlook three candidates? Whereas I got 74% marks in my panel interview for the VC slot, the then acting VC, who is also my colleague, was placed at number 2 with 41% score.

“Is this is a favour to me or my performance? If I was selected on merit, then people should not create problems for me in my efforts to develop the university/ institutions. “The search committee, comprising experienced and qualified persons, always finds out suitable and competitive candidates for all universities of Sindh, including the SBBUVAS Sakrand.

“Hopefully everything has been clarified mentioned in the news item.” Imdad Soomro adds: Dr Farooq Sahib’s reply/ clarification is only beating about the bush. He has made false claims without furnishing proper replies on the points, raised in The News story.

The quarries sent to Dr Farooq Sahib and points raised in the story were about his academic qualifications. He had been requested to share the dates/ years of passing his exams from different universities, but he did not provide any details.

The HEC was also contacted to verify his credentials. They have also asked for complete details, including the years in which the degrees were obtained. But Dr Farooq Sahib was avoiding sharing of the required information. He was also requested to share verifications of the HEC, but he did not respond.

For experience, Dr Farooq Sahib said he had more than 23 years professional experience, but avoided response to the actual point. For the post of VC, the mandatory required teaching experience is 20 years, and he has only 6 years, when he was appointed as an assistant professor in grade 18 in 2015, and then he got two-step promotion as a professor directly, and then with three months experience, he got himself selected as the VC. Dr Farooq Sahib’s reply is incomplete without provision of copies of his degrees, verification by the HEC, and details of teaching experience. The News stands by its story.