Ban on selection board meetings at varsities lifted

PESHAWAR: The ban on holding selection boards in the public sector universities in the province during the last six months of the vice-chancellors’ tenure has been lifted.

However, ban on fresh recruitment during the same period of the vice-chancellors would remain intact till further orders.

A formal notification to this effect was issued from the Governor/Chancellor’s office on Wednesday.

The notification states: “The competent authority is pleased to lift the ban on the vice-chancellors of public sector universities in the province regarding conduct of the selection board during the last six months of their tenures. However, ban on appointments/recruitment made by the vice-chancellors in line with the universities act during the last six months of their tenures shall remain intact till further orders. Separate instructions for regulating the same may be issued in due course of time.”

The ban on selection boards during the last six months of the vice-chancellors’ had been imposed in 2019 due to which the selection boards could not be conducted in a number of universities since then.

Positions in a number of universities had been advertised in 2018 and after but they could not be filled due to the ban.

In one such case, a number of positions of teaching and non-teaching cadres were advertised in the University of Swabi in 2018 for which the applicants’ credentials were scrutinized. But by the time the scrutiny was made, a ban on selection boards was imposed and the vice-chancellor entered into the final six months of his tenure.

Then for two years, the office of the vice-chancellor could not be filled and thus the recruitment process could not be completed.

Those positions are still laying vacant in the university. Full time vice-chancellor of the university Prof Dr Nasir Jamal Khattak took charge of his office recently.