The curious case of the VC-less KEMU

King Edward Medical University (KEMU) has become an ‘orphan’ institution due to sheer neglect on the part of the government, which has failed to appoint even a single ‘regular’ vice chancellor since KEMU was granted the university status, Pakistan Today has learnt. Faculty members and stakeholders while sharing their views said no other university throughout Punjab had been without a regular VC except the KEMU, even though it was a prestigious and historic seat of learning in South Asia. They cited the example of the Punjab University where the incumbent VC is about to retire and the post of the VC has been advertised in “anticipation” of his retirement. Same were the cases for the University of Health Sciences (UHS), the GCU, the LCWU and others, they said. Those in the administration, seeking anonymity revealed that the KEMC was granted the university status during the previous regime, a fact that is ‘not liked’ by the incumbent government and Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif and his team had ‘seriously’ considered the idea of reverting the status of KEMU to a college.
“The CM also chaired a meeting on the same issue last year, when the faculty members convinced him not to revert the university status since it was tantamount to taking one step backwards and bringing a bad name to him…to this the CM had agreed but on the condition of good performance,” a senior faculty member said, adding, “however a junior professor, who was rejected twice by the Punjab Public Service Commission (PPSC) for the post of assistant professor and was never selected for an academic career was appointed the pro-VC under dubious circumstances to head the prestigious institution.
Never has this institution been without a proper head in its long history of 150 years…where are these hollow slogans of merit and good governance when the government is deteriorating its own institutions…the impression among the faculty is that the CM has not accepted the university and hence this special treatment.”
Sources further told Pakistan Today that the post of a regular vice chancellor for KEMU was advertised in December 2008 and June 2010 and several people applied for the most coveted post in the medical profession, however, the government had failed to make any progress in this regard so far. They further revealed that a Supreme Court verdict was also available which said that a deputy or second-in-command can only take upon himself the responsibility of the institutional head when the latter was in office but proceeds on leave or was unable to attend for some reason.
Reliable sources further revealed that the incumbent Pro-VC Professor Asad Aslam performed a cataract surgery upon a very high profile figure from Islamabad and has been able to retain the coveted post in “reward” of that operation. “It is for the same reason that the Punjab government is also keeping mum on the issue and not appointing someone senior to him (Aslam) despite having advertised the post for so many times,” they added. Health Secretary Jehanzaib Khan was not available for his comments on the issue.