LAHORE – Punjab University (PU) administration is avoiding holding its 1686th syndicate meeting to decide the fate of those teachers that are facing corruptions charges, before the Academic Staff Association’s (ASA) general elections scheduled to be held on January 13, Pakistan Today learnt on Tuesday.
PU sources said that the entire teaching community awaits the syndicate meeting, which besides other agenda items, will decide the fate of some Pro Jamat-e-Islami and Pro Islami Jamiat-e-Taliba (IJT) PU deans, directors and teachers who are allegedly involved in academic corruptions.
Sources said that administration is hesitant to hold the meeting before the elections because of the pressure of around 70 percent Pro-JI teachers at varsity, which see their prospects in the elections being compromised if their group members are punished by the syndicate. A PU official said that PU’s syndicate body has its share of IJT representatives and in the last meeting they also approached syndicate’s members to get sympathies. The failure of syndicate members to come to the rescue of some IJT-backed heads is likely to become an election issue.
On the other hand, sources inside the Academic Group (A Pro-JI teachers group) claimed that they had no sympathy for the corrupt people from their group, as their priority was justice and merit, and those who violated merit and committed corruptions were earning a bad name for JI and IJT. They said that PU Vice Chancellor Professor Dr Mujahid Kamran should hold syndicate’s meeting prior to the elections, as it was his responsibility not to get pressurized in stamping out corruption from the varsity.
Sources in the Teachers Front (A group comprising of teachers who belong to VC’s group) said that they were expecting a tough competition in the upcoming elections and any delay in the syndicate’s meeting and inaction against the corrupt teachers will disturb their position, thus VC should take action by holding syndicates meeting before election.
PU sources said that the administration was facing pressure from different circles for action against corruption in various departments. Students enrolled in foreign universities are also suffering at the hands of the corruptions in Phd and MPhil exams at PU. Status of Phd programs in the country has become a question mark, also making the HEC concerned about the corruptions at PU.
Teachers on corruption charges held a protest last month on December 18 when 1685th syndicate meeting was in process, and for the very first time in history, two opponent groups of the PU, the Academic Group (leftist) and the Academic Group (rightist) consisting of pro-JI teachers, joined hands on the issue of delegating syndicate’s powers to PU VC, under the Punjab Employees Efficiency, Discipline and Accountability (PEEDA) Act 2006.
According to sources in the current syndicate meeting that will possibly be held after the elections, PU VC will decide the fate of those teachers that were issued show cause notice and whose personal hearings has also completed, while PU VC has compiled the statements in this regard as well.
