KARACHI: The acting management of the Federal University of Urdu Science, Arts and Technology, seems bent on proceeding with promotions of Lecturer, Assistant Professor, Associate Professor and Professors in violation of several university rules.
Dr. Rubina Mushtaq, Acting Vice-Chancellor of Urdu University, has started dealing with policy matters instead of running the affairs on a daily basis. The administration has completed preparations to appoint the blue-eyed candidates through the 2013 and 2017 selection boards.
The controversy began after the current acting management of the varsity decided to do away with the selection board for the posts of associate professors and professors advertised in 2013 while carrying out the selection process for the same positions advertised in 2017.
In this regard, some members of the varsity, including Dr Tauseef Ahmad Khan and Dr Irfan Aziz, penned down a letter to the administration, urging that the legal requirements of the selection board should be met.
“That move was expected to result in litigation as a majority of senior faculty members of the varsity would become juniors and subordinates to their juniors who completed their education and research work under their supervision and guidance,” they added.
However, due to the uproar, the candidates from 2013 selection board were included. The remaining lecturers of 2013 will be made Assistant Professors, while the Lecturers, Assistant Professors, Associate Professors of 2017 will be promoted to the next grade.
In order to hold a selection board, the acting management of the varsity is preparing to take tests of the remaining candidates from Monday, which is against the rules and regulations. Meanwhile, candidates from other cities have not yet arrived, while some candidates have not been notified yet.
The last time the varsity held the selection board was 2018 when Prof Dr Altaf Hussain was the permanent VC of Urdu University. That selection board, however, was under the 2013 advertisement. Some faculty members allege that only some favourites were promoted then and the rest of applicants were ignored.
In October 2019, the Islamabad High Court removed Prof Hussain from the VC post. The current administration, however, wanted to follow Prof Hussain’s suit and hold the selection board in June.
According to sources, it has been revealed that Secretary of the Selection Board Dr. Sarim himself is a candidate in the Selection Board of 2017. Associate Professor Dr. Sarim is also a candidate for Professor.
Senior teachers have raised questions on the test, being conducted by the acting management, saying that it was mandatory for tests to be conducted by a third party to maintain transparency. However, the acting management has adopted an illegal method by preparing the papers and taking the test itself.
The management usually recruits candidates through the Public Service Commission or at least through the NTS selection board tests. Sources claimed that the varsity management has not paid more than Rs. 17 lakh to NTS due to which NTS has not been asked in this regard.
It is pertinent to mention here that five names for Urdu University’s Permanent Vice Chancellor have been finalized and sent to President office.
